Grifter #9 *Preview*

[Will.S]

CBR has the preview up on the front page (which they got from USA Today).

Scott Clark's art looks great but the writing is a bit iffy when you have stuff like "They die okay", still I might give it a look provided the rest of the story checks out and the Daemonites look more menacing here.

[TonyStark1012]

I really like Scott's art, but having Liefield help on the writing has me scared. Grifter is one of my favorites so I'm hoping it will last and doesn't get cancelled, but that's alot of hoping.

[MDV]

Watch out fellow dudes. Here comes some extreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeme snowboarding action.

[Eivion]

I actually dug this issue alot. I felt Liefeld and Tieri brought a lot of what the book was missing in actual plot and personality for Grifter. This was a pretty fun issue, easily the best since the book began.

[TonyStark1012]

I read and enjoyed the issue as well. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Tieri is a good writer so he will carry the load. Glad to see Grifter have some back up. Also liked the back story of the Damonites.

[grifter78]

(No Spoilers)
The new creative team of Rob Liefeld with Frank Tieri as co-plotters finally makes their debut this month but unfortunately a lot of the concerns fans had about this creative team are present in this issue. This mixed in with surprisingly weak art by the normally solid Scott Clark do not make for a good beginning on this run.
Those who know me know that next to Batman, Grifter is my favorite character. I've also been accused of the being the cheerleader for all things Wildstorm-related and some have discounted my reviews because they think me biased. I'll admit that I do love the Wildstorm characters and for the most part I am pretty lenient when it comes to their stories. But I have to say I was not happy with this issue of Grifter. I am a very positive person and don't like focusing on negatives so I'll get through them quick and then talk about what I did like about the issue.
One struggle fans have had with the Wildstorm characters being introduced into the New 52 is the "old vs. new" argument. Many of the Wildstorm characters in the New 52 are vastly different from the originals. This has turned off some but for me it has been interesting. I never expected, nor really wanted, a direct translation of the old WSU into the DCU. A lot of these characters in their old incarnation wouldn't fit in the DCU. The DCU Grifter has been one that has been chased, beaten, and finally had his loved ones take away. In issue 8 the DCU Grifter seemed practically on the verge of suicide because all of this had transpired and it was very appropriate based on what he had experienced. The Grifter in this issue, however, talks and acts like the WSU Grifter. You'd think I'd be happy with that fact but for me it kills everything that's been setup about the character so far. The WSU Grifter varied depending on who wrote him. Some wrote him more serious while others a tad bit goofy. I never liked the latter. Grifter's not meant to be a wisecracker, especially not the DCU Grifter. Even though he mentions the loss of his brother, I don't see the hurt he was dealing with last issue. To me, this is a step backwards for the character.
Also, it is good to have artist Scott Clark back but for the first time since he's been on the series, I felt his art seemed a bit rushed in some areas. He had the previous month off so I was kind of disappointed to see this. I've always like Clark's art and the fact he's from the old Wildstorm crew adds a bit of nostalgia to the title for me. I hope this was just a temporary thing because this title needs a lot of help right now.
It was also hard to get into the story and dialogue. The story of Grifter being the Chosen One to fight against the Daemonite is a storyline that has been used countless times and just didn't seem to fit here. Grifter was definitely setup by the Daemonites as was revealed last issue but I don't buy this new development. Grifter was fine just being a thorn in the Daemonites side.
Finally, I will say (no spoilers because he's on the cover) that seeing Deathblow introduced into the DCU was a nice treat. Deathblow was one of my favorite Wildstorm characters and it's going to be fun seeing him and Grifter in a book together again. I also like the design for Cheshire. I'd never read about her in the old DCU but since we're not getting Zealot (apparently she's going to appear in Deathstroke), it's cool that we're going to have at least one ass-kicking female in this title for now.
This title was already on life-support and it really needs something unique to get people to try it. It's frustrating as a fan because I love this character so much but it's so hard to get people to read a book I myself am starting not to enjoy. But I am loyal and I will follow Grifter to the bitter end but I hope Leifeld and Tieri have something big up their sleeves because this title needs serious help.

[paulski]

(No Spoilers)
The new creative team of Rob Liefeld with Frank Tieri as co-plotters finally makes their debut this month but unfortunately a lot of the concerns fans had about this creative team are present in this issue. This mixed in with surprisingly weak art by the normally solid Scott Clark do not make for a good beginning on this run.

I've only looked at the preview pages but, yeah, it wasn't up to Scott's usual standards IMO. It seemed 'light on' for detail and really rushed to me.

Glad I bailed when I did (last issue).

[beetle_booster]

Loved how Clark rendered Deathblow. Looks like this issue is setting up for some big screen action next issue.

[BugsySig]

Is he...snowboarding in those pages? Grifter. Snowboarding. Ummm, yeah.

As if that wasn't enough to deter me from continuing this book, even Grifter78 wasn't crazy about it...and he'd read a story about Cole Cash taking a dump if it was written well haha, just kiddin buddy. But this does not bode well for this book...

[DaronK]

I picked this book up off the shelf as another huge Grifter fan (I'll have to post the amazing commission I got from Ryan Benjamin this year at C2E2), but after flipping through it, and reading the dialogue, I just couldn't buy it. As Grifter78 said above, Grifter is not Deadpool or Spiderman and shouldn't be wisecracking on every single page, especially based on what's come before. Tieri's dialogue was terrible, which is sad because it seems Liefeld's story wasn't bad. I'm sad to say I would have preferred to see Liefeld just handle the story and dialogue... I don't think it could have been any worse.

[Will.S]

I decided to pick it up and while there are cliche's and some bad dialogue i.e. a Zealot style character, a "chosen one" destiny, "They die okay", it feels like a much more exciting direction for the character and actually feels right.

Nathan Edmondson's Grifter rang hollow to me since A) he didn't sound or feel like the Grifter of old and B) he took far too much time to build up his stories. I even thought Scott Clark's art looked better than usual although the opening pages and the last page look great because they have the highest amount of detail although the middle parts lose that quite a bit. This wasn't a great comic or anything but I do feel that this feels closer to traditional pre-new52 Grifter than the one we've had in the past 8 issues. I think I'll keep buying it to see where it goes so props to Rob and Frank for reinvigorating the character and actually making him more familiar.

[Will.S]

I also like the design for Cheshire.

Is this character really Cheshire? Seems like some other new character.

[ArnoldoAAD]

I just read it

Honestly
is much better than i expected it to be

I liked the art A lot so i dont get the complains that i have seen here over Scott Clark's art

the plot itself well
well
here is a trivia that you probably didnt knew, when Kyle Rayner was created, the artist originally based his model and face, on Keanu Reeves
dead serious, look it up

i bring this up cause the dialog of Grifter reminded me a lot of Earlier Kyle Rayner, and the plot is basically Matrix with aliens instead of machines and no alternative reality

cliche, yes, but i think it was well executed

I will agree that i really dont like the new voice, though i dont dislike it, I never read Wildcats, but from the first arc of this book, is not the same voice, i think it went to the opposite side of what Nathan was doing when i think a middle point could had been better
but i do like the direction, specially the all resistance take on Grifter cause i think it actually worked well on Flashpoint
and I like Niko, not a bad character to be honest but there is a lot of credit for the art on this

is this a mind blower issue?
not really but i do think for all its flaws and merits it is better than it was before
i give it a 7 out of 10

Is this character really Cheshire? Seems like some other new character.

thats suppose to be Cheshire!?
It is actually a pretty good redesign if thats true

[Robotman4]

While there may have been too much wisecracking, I kinda prefer this Grifter to the emo guy who had been in the previous issues. I enjoyed the storyline Edmonson had crafted but his characterization of Grifter was a bit flat.

[starsonfire]

I'm hanging on to this title, as I'm an old Grifter fan too and as Grifter78 said, I'll be sticking with it till the bitter end.

Sometimes change is good and only time will tell if this will give Grifter the boost it needs! All I have to ask is, why is he snowboarding?

I haven't got to read the latest issue yet, but is that what you do when you become wanted, your gf is kidnapped by aliens, that other chick got fridged in a plane crash and your brother is murdered then possessed and you have to shoot him? So really, you go snowboarding? Whatev's...