LINK: Grifter (New 52) #11 Review "Forgive Us Our SYNGE" Story: Rob Liefeld Dialog: Frank Tieri Pencils: Marat Mychaels Inks: Rob Hunter Colors: Andrew Dalhouse Letters: Wes Abbott Editor: Brian Smith ART -- Obviously, this book has relied (for me at least) on the merits of its amazing artwork for pretty much this entire run, as the story (under Edmondson at least) has been pretty lackluster through issue #8. With this issue we have a fill in art team, and let me tell you, I had more than a bit of trepidation when I realized that my beloved Clark/Beaty team was not contributing to this issue. But after I dug into this one, my fears were stamped out after I got a look at Marat Mychaels and Rob Hunter's version of Grifter. Now, the first few pages were OK, but Grifter was not wearing his mask yet, so I couldn't make any judgement as to the overall quality of the art until he slapped on the mask and really went to town with some telekinetic butt-kicking. Once Cole Cash got into full-on battle mode, the artwork really shifted into high gear for me. The scenes that showed Grifter engaging Synge in battle using his telekinesis were not as good as the ones that Clark did in the previous issue, but still not bad by any stretch of the imagination. I think that Mychael's art was at its best when rendering, in very high detail, each and every character that showed up on the page. That was his strong point for sure. As usual, Dalhouse has done an awesome job on colors. This slice of the story was a little more cartoony and fantastical (mostly because of the dumb-looking villain) than a lot of the previous stuff had been, but the colors did a good job of keeping things as grounded as they could be and also made the fight scenes easy to follow, which any comic reader knows is not always an easy thing to accomplish. Also, we got two 2-page spreads in this issue (if you can't already tell from my previous reviews, I really dig those) that were good, but not quite as eye-catching as Clark's usually are. Mychaels did a great job overall on this issue, he actually was a pretty damn good transition from Clark's art, because his work was so detailed and stylish. If a fill-in artist can't be avoided (which I'm sure is the case, based on how much work Clark puts into has layouts and character detail) then I would be completely happy with Mychaels being rotated in every 4th or 5th issue, if he's available. STORY & DIRECTION -- *** SPOILERS BELOW *** Man, Grifter just can't catch a break these days (and this becomes even more true toward the end of this issue). We are thrust right back into the action and devastation arising from Synge's surprise attack on the Resistance crew. In lieu of doing a full play-by-play of this fight scene, basically Synge beats the crap out of three remaining team members (Grifter, Cheshire, and Deathblow) for about half of the issue. But, at a certain point, Grifter realizes that the team's conventional weapons (and even an exploding motorcycle) are not doing any damage to Synge (still a ridiculous villain, with a ridiculous design), so he focuses on using his newly acquired telekinetic skills. I need to bring up a little sidebar here: Cole quips to himself that his now being able to go all "Jedi Badass" is something that has recently happened (possible that it's brand new to him) and was not a previously held power (although the solicits for issue #0 and Liefeld's recent comments at SDCC 2012 seem to state otherwise) that he simply just chose not to utilize. It seems pretty clear here that the writers are taking what happened in issue #7 (the Midnighter fight issue - with Grifter getting what amounted to an information dump into his head from the wayward piece of the "Eye of the Storm" ship) and him stating that he suddenly knew so much more than he had before, and running with it. Obviously more will be revealed in the #0 issue to be released in September, but what we know right now is that whether this was a latent ability (actually pretty likely, see above) that Cole was unaware of, or a completely new ability brought on by his exposure to the Eye of the Storm wreckage, he now has full use of extremely powerful telekinetic skills and isn't afraid to use said skills. The other revelation that we see is that these new powers do have limits (with respect to how much mass and/or volume he can move with his mind) and that Grifter can't rely on them for an infinite amount of time. Well, back in the story, our hero learns from his earlier lackluster attempt to stop Synge, using his powers to throw scattered tree limbs and various smallish rocks, and decides to go for broke -- he rips out a large chunk of the surrounding forest (trees, soil, and boulders), after tactically luring Synge into just the right spot, and brings them plummeting down on top of him with massive force. That show of pure mental power is what it took to bring the villain down for the count. In the moments after the short battle, Grifter states that he is starting to come to grips with the fact that this is his life now (for the foreseeable future) and he is finally ready to embrace it and do what has to be done. Once again, they are trying to figure out why the Daemonites are always one step ahead of them. Before they can start to come up with an answer to that question, Cheshire shoots Deathblow, reveals that she is the traitor, and then proceeds to cap Grifter in the chest as well. What a freaking BITCH !!! Now I know what that weird look that Cheshire had was, when Grifter asked if everyone on the team could be trusted (at the end of issue #10). We flash forward to Synge blasting out of the debris, very much alive...NOT GOOD?!? This is quickly followed by a scene that shows some robed and hooded religious-type followers trying to explain to their master that no matter what they do, the "Chosen One" will always win. This apparently really pisses off the shadowed figure who promptly process to explode the head of the poor messenger. It is revealed that that main baddie is Helspont and he is now in control of the unconscious body of Deathblow and the semi-conscious body of Grifter...again NOT GOOD! DIALOG -- The dialog has remained funny and consistent throughout this 3-issue run so far under Tieri. I like the pop culture references (Jedi Badass, etc.) that keep the book feeling modern and cool. I really don't have any issues with this facet of the story. As a matter of fact, I think the dialog was even a little better this issue that in the previous two (in #9 and #10, there were usually a quip or two by Grifter that just didn't work). I can identify much more with Grifter now than in the first 8 issues of this series, and that makes me want to root for him harder and and put more of an emotional investment in how exactly he will take down this gigantic Daemonite and Helspont (even worse) threat. As long as the dialog stays consistent and doesn't get too hokey (which some people argue, myself not included, that it already is, but I guess we all have a different threshold for certain types of dialog) then I don't see this doing anything but elevating the story. IN CONCLUSION -- This is fun comics, no other way around it. I continue to love this book because it continues to know exactly what it is and what it's supposed to be -- which is an action-packed, wild ride of a comic. We are slowly starting to learn more about the character of Grifter in regards to his power limits and his mental state right now (acceptance of what he needs to start doing to win this war). In my opinion, any little bits of backstory or endearing scenes that will make us, as readers, gravitate to Grifter's personality are going to be good for this book. It seems that based on the sales figures, this book has leveled out at around 15,000 issues ordered per month. This is not a bad number at all when compared to a lot of DC's other 2nd-tier books. I sincerely hope that the sales are enough to keep this from cancellation and that we will continue to see Grifter's adventures long into the future, or at least until a Wildcats book is available. In a perfect world, I will still want him to have his own book no matter what, though. Bottom line is this: I continue to like the new direction (as grifter78 says, it really feels like an entirely new book that the first 8 issues) that Liefeld and Tieri are taking us in with this story. As always, the art is stunning (even with the fill-in artist) and should continue to stay that way if Clark and/or Mychaels stays on the title. Let's keep this bitch going...if anybody who reads this review and doesn't already get Grifter and likes this review, please pre-order it or pick it up off the shelf.