Episode 1498 Talkback - Off the Racks: Grayson #1, Rocket Raccoon #1, and Tuki #1

Adam_Murdough

Raccoons and hominids and spies, oh my! This month's roster of Off the Racks reviews encompasses espionage action (Grayson #1 from DC), outer-space funny-animal thrills (Rocket Raccoon #1 from Marvel), and dawn-of-man comedy-drama (Tuki: Save the Humans #1 from Jeff Smith's Cartoon Books). It's genre-bending jollity the way YOU like it! (1:05:08)

Listen here.

playdohsrepublic

I really enjoyed Grayson and will probably pick it up for a while. I could see it going one of two ways that will still interest me. First is that Dick and Helena take over Spyral from its evil leaders, second is that after he takes it down Dick moves on to another mission for Batman. Kind of like Batman's personal secret agent.

I enjoyed Rocket Raccoon but I'm not 100% sure I liked it, if that makes any sense. It was fun and I love love love me some Skottie Young, but Rocket has been portrayed increasingly as unhinged and I'm not sure I like it. Same in the main GotG series. He has always, at least since the Star Lord Annihilation Conquest mini, been deadly but pragmatic. Now he's just a psychopath.

I didn't get a chance to read Tuki, but it's on my to do list. This was the first "Off the Racks" where I was seriously interested in every title.

jaydee74

I really enjoyed Grayson #1. I could see how the first page might throw someone off if you don't know much about Dick Grayson but I saw that first page as trying to introduce the character in the same way as Grant Morrison did in All-Star Superman but I guess not as successful.

I liked the art. I thought it was clean and simple but it worked for me. Maybe it's the usual DC House art but I thought it fit the book. I thought the story itself was nice. It was a typical train adventure where Dick and Helena were after this one guy while another group was also after him. There was action and some comedic moments and I thought it was a good first issue.

The premise of this book to me anyway seems a bit like the television show Alias. Dick Grayson infiltrates Spyral to figure out what they are about which reminds me more or less what Sidney Bristow does with SD6. I like the technology Spyral uses to conceal their identities. Maybe someone else knows this but has technology like that ever been used in comics before? I thought it was very interesting.

Also, having read issue #2, I'm getting the sense that we're going to be seeing how Dick handles being a bit out of his element. He's a superhero. Not a spy and he's got to learn how to play the spy game. Also, he's deep undercover. He's cut off from his support system save for Bruce and we're going to see how he deals with that. There is a touching moment at the end of issue #2 that I really dug.

Overall, I thought the first issue was really good. I'm intrigued by Spyral and what they do as an organization and I can't wait to see how it all comes together.

playdohsrepublic

I haven't read a DC book in almost 2 years and I had no problem understanding what was going on in Grayson #1. I thought it was smart to make everything a little familiar, especially for those who aren't invested in the DCU all that much.

Also, finally read Tuki (in it's webcomic form). Pure Jeff Smith. Highly enjoyable.

Rod28

I loved that @brydeemer‌ mentioned London Falling. Paul had a panel about this and The Severed Streets at Gally this past February. I bought it and had him sign my copy.

Mr_Cosmic

Grayson was really good. I think @jaydee74‌ laid my thoughts out perfectly...so I'll just say "ditto."

Rocket was good..it was fun..and it was very silly. It was like an animated version of the character. It was, perhaps, just a little too over the top and silly. That sounds weird when describing a book about a talking Raccoon but one of the great things about Annihilation/DnA's GotG was making rocket a character you could take seriously in the MU. This book, to me, puts him back into that silly, cartoony talking animal role again.

TheOriginalGMan

I give Grayson a strong "borrow." I liked it, but as I'm not a big DC guy, there was a lot of back story stuff that I just assumed was common knowledge to most readers (SPYRAL, Mr. Minos, the whole Dick Grayson is "dead" thing, etc). The issue reminded me A LOT of a recent arc in the "Winter Soldier: Bitter March" book that Marvel is producing with elite spies trying to execute a kidnapping aboard a train, complete with a protagonist being forced to jump from said train with the kidnappee (<--- is that a word, btw?). On the subject of Dick Grayson, if he was outed to the world and then presumed to be dead, isn't it kind of stupid to think he'd be able to show his face in public? You'd think his face would be one of the most recognizable in the world at that point. Had no issue with the artwork, so Bryan's comments took me by surprise.

Haven't listened to your review of "Rocket Raccoon" yet but I gave it a weak "borrow" (which was subsequently downgraded to a "pants" after issue #2). I'm a big Guardians of the Galaxy fan, so I jumped on this issue. Was pretty disappointed as I thought it was a bit childish.

jaydee74

There is a way that Dick Grayson can operate with his identity public. When we see Mr. Minos and his face is all distorted in that Spyral, it's actually what people see. Spyral has technology to keep their identities secret. All people can detect whether it's the naked eye or surveillance systems, all they can see or remember is a face that is distorted in a "spyral" design. Part of the tech that Spyral agents have and I guess it's in their eyes although I'm not 100% sure is that they can make people forget their faces. So that's how Dick can work without a mask and I think it will be interesting if Dick runs into someone he knows like Roy or Batgirl. Should be interesting.

alienal

Just opened my DCBS box and read these cuz I wanted to listen to the show.
Grayson #1: BORROW (but I'll be getting subsequent issues since I ordered them) I knew about Dick's misfortune during Forever Evil and I knew about Morrison's Spyral, and I knew that Midnighter was in the New 52 universe, but like Bryan, the book just didn't grab me. There were some things that were interesting: Dick fighting a Batman-type in Midnighter (does anyone know if Batman has met The Midnighter yet?) and the "Mr. Malone this is Birdwatcher" panel. Other than that...kinda ho-hum. The artwork. Wow, I also agree with Bryan: kinda pedestrian. Nothing special. The vividness that Murd mentions, to me, doesn't work for the spy genre. Someone above mentioned Winter Soldier, well I'd like to see some Michael Lark-Steve Epting style artwork on this. Still, I'm a Dick Grayson fan so I'm hoping things'll get better.
TUKI #1: WEAK BUY: The horizontal-landscaped presentation sort of threw me a bit, but I did enjoy it for the most part. I also liked the humor and the fact that he did some research before taking on the project. And the sorta cliffhanger at the end was fun. Nothing much else to say...
ROCKET RACCOON #1: BORROW - the cartooniness of the art did not bother me at all, it just that I don't really care that much about the character. I did enjoy the allusions to Star Wars and video games, but it wasn't enough to REALLY engage me. I might try issue #2 if I can find it somewhere this month.
Wow, Bryan's daughter is a "voracious" reader. Hmm, seems like you should ask her some Legion trivia.
Thanks for the episode, good job guys!

TheOriginalGMan

Thanks @jaydee74‌.