I am really into making lists right now so here are 9 things that I loved, liked, or lost time thinking about while reading (and rereading) Grayson #9.

1. After the previous issue ending in Minos’ death at the hands of a literal femme fatale, Helena Bertinelli takes on a new identity as the head of SPYRAL (as is her due considering how the last one shot her in the freaking heart). How awesome is that that Helena is kind of following in the footsteps of Amanda Waller and being a badass WOC in charge and kicking ass?
2. Tiger/Agent 1 and his dynamic with Dick Grayson is everything I never knew I wanted in life or in comics. There’s this series of panels where Dick is getting dressed while Agent 1 handles business. It’s far from a serious scene because you have Dick just whining and fussing about how much he hates formalwear while Agent 1 is having this serious discussion about the mission. It was legitimately the funniest scene because Dick is so freaking ridiculous and Agent 1 is having absolutely none of his shit.
3. With Mikel Janin on art and Jeromy Cox on colors, we really get a gorgeous issue this month. I feel like we were really spoiled by all of the mind-meltingly pretty So far I have yet to be even remotely disappointed in anything Janin has done for the series and the colors really pop in this issue. Ah!
4. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I first read the issue at 6:30 in the morning, but I was actually really confused over what was going on. I mean, now I’m pretty sure I understand what I read, but boy my brain was unwilling to connect the dots at first. (This is wholly a personal problem, but as it’s something I lost time on… It goes on the list.)
5. The Duchess’s dress is beautiful and I was definitely feeling some major envy over it. I need more of her (like seriously, how did she/her family wind up with that Kryptonian crystal in the first place??) and I definitely need more of that dress. I can’t stop looking at that spread with her and Dick dancing and just like screaming internally because it’s literally the most beautiful page in the history of beautiful comic book pages!)
6. The emotional poignancy of the opening page where Dick is trying to get in contact with Bruce (who is dead?? I don’t know – I don’t read the main Batman comic) is just out of this world. You can almost hear the emotion in his voice as you’re reading. Dick just seems so diminished there and so lonely. With Bruce MIA, Dick is definitely on his own and it’s hitting him hard. Talk about a punch to the chest! Wow!
7. Do you know how badly I need a poster of Dick in that freaking suit just so I can stare at it for days? It’s my lock screen on my phone already and I’m pretty sure I’ll find a way to put it as a background on all of my devices before the week is out.
8. Grifter! Grifter was in the background of that panel where all of the other spies were telling Helena that she needed to fix things with the mystery murderer. Major kudos to the Grayson creative team for including former-Wildstorm characters I have always had a soft spot for. Yeah, I know they’re not doing this with me in mind but okay first Midnighter, then Apollo, and now Grifter like they’re getting all of my faves in this book.
9. Because I am terrible at figuring out who the real bad guy is when I’m reading/watching anything at all, it’s going to keep me up for days that I don’t even have a suspect for who’s behind the murders. I love it! I love that this isn’t a predictable plot and that I’ll probably stay here trying to figure it out until the very end.

This book was a nice return to the series and I’m happy that I got up super early so that I could order it before even the sun was up. I’m mad biased in favor of this series because it hits all of my narrative buttons while being super easy on the eyes. Not only do Tim Seeley and Tom King not disappoint with their intricate plots, but the art from Mikel Janin is always on point.

Issue 9 just reminds me of how much I love the series. This was a quality comic book experience and I can’ t wait until next month’s issue!