Everyone knows that Dick Grayson is one of my all time favorite DC characters, so I am perhaps a little biased in my reviews. However this week’s release of Grayson #16 has been by far one of my favorites of the entire series. This is everything I imagined super, secret, sexy, spy Dick could be since book 1. Dick is back in action in his own book this week, kicking ass and taking names. I know he’s been all over the DC world as of late. Dick’s been in Gotham helping out robo-bat Gordon, and playing big brother to the rest of the Robins. He was hanging out in Florida reconnecting with his old Teen Titans pal and former flame Starfire. All of this has led him back to his current mission of bringing down his former partner Helena and all of Spyral.

Grayson has teamed up with Tony the Tiger; original bad ass, Agent 1. Together they are systematically eradicating all other agents in this corrupt organization. It’s a little Spy vs Spy and James Bond all rolled up into a good time. Dick is just making it all look so damn good. During these violent escapades, Dick and Tiger have some really amazing moments of almost bonding. There is this car chase through the Alps where he gets to make jokes about his time spent driving with Batman, but how Tigers driving actually scares him. Tiger tells Dick he’s going to kill him someday, but you can clearly see that he is lacking in conviction. Dick is really growing on him whether he wants to admit it or not.

Grayson has a sense of humor while going about murdering and maiming these Spyral agents. He is almost jovial about it, saying it’s time for a song. He sings the whole time about why he should be ranked higher than Agent 37, all the while annoying the crap out of Tiger. His song goes like this “Agent thirty seven, He’s the spy, the spy with the faces of swirls. He gets all the girls. But he calls them women, because girls though it fits the rhyme scheme is kind of misogynistic and doesn’t show proper respect for the equal sex! Thirty seven, he’s got a partner who isn’t just another Spyral crony. He calls him Tony.” It goes on from there, but pick up the book for yourself and you can laugh your ass off too.

Dick and Tiger have a killed enough agents that they have managed to totally piss off Helena and she sends some gnarly assassins known as the syndicate to handle them. This is where things take an interesting twist. The boys decide they need some major backup to help take down Spyral once and for all, and they turn to an unlikely ally for help. I don’t want to spoil the surprise on the last page, but the next issue promises more of the same spy shenanigans in Spy Wars.

I’m so excited to see this book finally go where I have always thought it could. It has a Nightwing meets James Bond feel to it. Dick Grayson has all the qualities to be an amazing spy, and I am thrilled we get to see a little bit more of that from him in this issue. Hopefully with Robin Wars mostly behind us, we can get back to Dick just being Dick and having some fun doing it.

*This issue comes in a regular cover plus a variant adult coloring book cover as well.*