Grifter #5 – Review

By: Nathan Edmondson (writer), Scott Clark (penciller), Dave Beaty (inker), Andrew Dalhouse (colorist)

The Story: Don’t think of it as an abduction, Cole, but as a free trip to the stars.  Free, I say!

The Review: I must say, you have to give credit to DC for taking such major efforts to integrate their Wildstorm acquisitions into the fold and get them some attention.  True, none of them have really taken off as a pop hit, but it’s not for want of trying.  They all have very solid creative teams on board, and it’s clear editorial is working overtime to keep their plots running parallel to each other, prepping for a fairly significant crossover at some point.

But all of that will come to nothing if the stories themselves don’t sell.  While Voodoo has been a solid read throughout, Grifter has mostly hemmed and hawed and meandered until it’s lost all sense of direction.  Perhaps that’s fitting, given the roaming nature of our star, and the fact that he himself has little idea of what’s going on and few options for his next moves.  Even so, that doesn’t excuse the title for being so thin on plot at this late stage of its story arc.

Frankly, Edmondson has been downright stingy in the information he’s given us.  A lot of what we know is couched in such stubborn vagaries that even speculation is mostly futile.  After all this time, we barely know anything more about the Daemonites than we did at the start of the series.  Even the reveal about their intention to capture Cole and offer him to “the Black Curate” is so obscure, it’s hard to get all worked up about it.  In fact, it’s underwhelming to think they’ve gone through all this trouble just to obtain a human sacrifice.  Rather simple, if you ask me.