Grifter # 14

[beetle_booster]

It's Grifter vs Midnighter. I didn't like how the fight played out here. Grifter and Midnighter were fighting like freakin MMA fighters, grounding and pounding each other. It's alreay been established in previous issues that Grifter already has full mastery of his telekinesis. He's uprooted forest trees and threw Daemonites around like ragdolls with his mental powers. Why couldn't he do that with Midnighter? Why resort to grounding and pounding when you could just throw Midnighter around with your thought? Or, better yet, why not just immobilize Midnighter and suspend him in mid-air while using him for target practice?

I imagine that the fight would be more badass if Grifter initially beat the crap out of Midnighter by throwing him around using his TK powers. Then being the fighting machine that he is, Midnighter would figure out how to negate those powers by, I don't know, going stealth and throwing cars or motorcycles or boulders at Grifter to keep him occupied to buy him some time to be able to catch Grifter by surprise and land deadly blows... something like that.

Grifter has all the powers, skills and personality to potentially make him the toughest and deadliest SOB in DC: powerful TK, no qualms about killing, elite soldier, healing factor.. I wish the writers would take advantage of that.

The art doesn't feel as rushed as it looked like in the previous issue. It's still an upgrade over Liefeld. But I really think this comic would've been better if it's drawn by Scott Clark or Brett Booth.

[Mikey Ramone]

Have to admit I dropped this book after Edmonson was gone and they put Liefield on, agh! But I am digging Team 7 and I REALLY hope DC brings back WildC.A.T.s

[grifter78]

(No Spoilers)

Hot on the tail of the news that the title is being cancelled, we get a fun, albeit shallow, issue of Grifter. While the issue was enjoyable it was a quick read and the logic behind the result of the fight between Midnighter and Grifter still has me scratching my head. At this point, all we can hope for is some entertaining issues before the end.

It's always hard to write a review for a title you know is getting cancelled. You almost feel like it's pointless because the purpose of a review is to encourage people to buy the issues so it won't get cancelled. The only thing left at that point is to let others know if the end is worth reading or not. So far, I think it still is, even if I don't agree with everything that's being done with the character.

First, fans of both Midnighter and Grifter are going to be thrown off by the way their fight plays out. I know both characters are different from their Wildstorm versions, but even with the way they've been presented in the New 52 so far, it's still hard to swallow. The issue is pretty much one big fight scene and leaves out something that's been missing for a while in the series...character development. Since his New 52 debut, I've wanted to know more about this version of Grifter and with 14 issues in the can, I still don't feel like I know much about him. I know it's supposed to be an action book, but I can point to a dozen other comics that do a great job of mixing action with character moments.

I was also happier with Marat Mychaels art this issue. It's got a simple style to it but I've always liked it. Come to think of it, I would've preferred him over on the Team 7 book; the book that will soon be the only place to get your Grifter fix. According to the solicits, he's doing these last few issues of the book so at least we'll get some consistency here. It's also noteworthy that this is the last issue Rob Liefeld will get credit for. So it'll be interesting to see what Frank Tieri does on his own with the last couple of issues.
While it is sad that the title will end soon, it's probably for the best since it's had so many missteps. Hopefully people will still be interested in Grifter over in Team 7 and eventually that'll lead to a Wildcats title (here's to hoping!)