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Grifter (2011) #1
Grifter, Vol. 1: Most Wanted
As a part of the acclaimed DC Comics—The New 52 event of September 2011, Cole Cash is a charming grifter few can resist. And yet he's about to be branded a serial killer when he begins hunting and exterminating inhuman creatures hidden in human form–creatures only he can see!Can the biggest sweet talker of all time talk his way out of this one when even his brother thinks he's gone over the edge?
This volume contains issues #1-6 of the Grifter, part of the DC— The New 52.
This volume contains issues #1-6 of the Grifter, part of the DC— The New 52.
192 pages, Unknown Binding
First published November 1, 2011
About the author
Nathan Edmondson
216 books125 followersComic book and screenwriter Nathan Edmondson is a native of Augusta, GA. His Eisner-nominated book Who Is Jake Ellis? will soon be a major motion picture from 20th Century Fox, and The Activity film will come soon from Paramount Pictures. NPR has listed his work among the “Top 6 Comics to Draw You In” and USA Today and CNN are among those who have listed him in their Top 10 lists.
Nathan currently lives near Los Angeles, USA.
Nathan currently lives near Los Angeles, USA.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews
August 5, 2014
2.5 stars
Grifter!
I'm not sure about you, but when I think about grifters, I always imagine someone who's able to charm the pants off of the vast majority of the population.
Otherwise, how would they ever be able to run their cons?
Sure, they may have a smarmy streak to them, but on the whole they have to be likable enough to take folks in.
I never saw that character trait in Cole (aka the Grifter).
In fact, I never saw him con anyone. The only thing he seemed to do well was get his ass kicked, while his inner monologue ran wild with Kenny Rodgersish gambling references.
You gotta know when to hold 'em
Know when to fold 'em
Know when to walk away
Know when to run...
I wanted to see him use his powers of persuasion to get himself out of bad situations! I wanted to see someone cleverly pull the wool over the eyes of the bad guys!
Instead, I got more of his stupid thought bubbles.
You never count your money
While you're sittin' at the taaaaable
There'll be tiiiiime enough for countin'....
When the dealin's done.
Well, since he sucked at the long con, maybe his background as a Spechul Forces guy would prove interesting, right?
Ehhhhh.
He didn't do anything all that special.
His training didn't seem to give him much of an extra edge when it came to dealing with these evil aliens.
He just grabbed a random rag, shoved it on his face, and took off running.
So the story is basically about a guy who's been abducted by aliens, manages to escape, hears their telepathic voices in his head, and is sooo special to their plans that they're chasing him all over the country.
Why?
He's SPECIAL goddammit!
Ok.
And because every sub-par New 52 title needs a crossover with Green Arrow, Grifter get a lead on WhoTheFuckCaresWhat that sends him to Q-Core industries.
Did you know the best way to get a meeting with Oliver Queen (or any rich playboy) is to run a car through the lobby of their building, take a hostage, and demand to see the CEO?
Seriously?
You're betting your life that some wealthy asshole is going to come down to the lobby, and try to talk to you because you're apparently a raging lunatic?
No.
Let me explain how this would go down...
Security kills you with one shot to the head.
Oh, wait. No, that wouldn't happen, because then there wouldn't be an excuse for The Archer to shoot you with a crappy trick arrow.
And there also wouldn't be an excuse for you to get a hot chick as your sidekick.
Good thing she somehow just happens to have been tracking these aliens, and somehow has a whole arsenal of weapons that she's collected, and she's somehow managed to teach herself all these ninja skills.
This was a readable book, but everything felt slapped together in such a way that it didn't endear any of the characters to you.
So-n-so just died?
Eh. So what?
The hostile relationship with his brother needed some explanation. There was a lot of innuendo about some mysterious thing in their past, but without knowing what the hell they were talking about, that whole storyline fell flat.
Cole's relationship with his girlfriend was another who cares side-story. He lurves her, but for the life of me, I couldn't see why.
And then there's the aliens, themselves.
Why the fuck have they been twiddling their thumbs for 400 years or whatever? If you're that awesome, why didn't you pop up and take over before now?
Ok. In all fairness, maybe this has something to do with the Stormwatch team. Yeah, one of those guys makes a cameo in this.
You would think, Hey, the Stormwatch dude might have some answers for Cole!, but you would be wrong.
Nope. He just tries to kill him...because he's SEEN TOO MUCH.
If you enjoyed this title, then I'm happy for you.
But unless someone tells me that it really improves with volume 2, I think I'm done.
Grifter!
I'm not sure about you, but when I think about grifters, I always imagine someone who's able to charm the pants off of the vast majority of the population.
Otherwise, how would they ever be able to run their cons?
Sure, they may have a smarmy streak to them, but on the whole they have to be likable enough to take folks in.
I never saw that character trait in Cole (aka the Grifter).
In fact, I never saw him con anyone. The only thing he seemed to do well was get his ass kicked, while his inner monologue ran wild with Kenny Rodgersish gambling references.
You gotta know when to hold 'em
Know when to fold 'em
Know when to walk away
Know when to run...
I wanted to see him use his powers of persuasion to get himself out of bad situations! I wanted to see someone cleverly pull the wool over the eyes of the bad guys!
Instead, I got more of his stupid thought bubbles.
You never count your money
While you're sittin' at the taaaaable
There'll be tiiiiime enough for countin'....
When the dealin's done.
Well, since he sucked at the long con, maybe his background as a Spechul Forces guy would prove interesting, right?
Ehhhhh.
He didn't do anything all that special.
His training didn't seem to give him much of an extra edge when it came to dealing with these evil aliens.
He just grabbed a random rag, shoved it on his face, and took off running.
So the story is basically about a guy who's been abducted by aliens, manages to escape, hears their telepathic voices in his head, and is sooo special to their plans that they're chasing him all over the country.
Why?
He's SPECIAL goddammit!
Ok.
And because every sub-par New 52 title needs a crossover with Green Arrow, Grifter get a lead on WhoTheFuckCaresWhat that sends him to Q-Core industries.
Did you know the best way to get a meeting with Oliver Queen (or any rich playboy) is to run a car through the lobby of their building, take a hostage, and demand to see the CEO?
Seriously?
You're betting your life that some wealthy asshole is going to come down to the lobby, and try to talk to you because you're apparently a raging lunatic?
No.
Let me explain how this would go down...
Security kills you with one shot to the head.
Oh, wait. No, that wouldn't happen, because then there wouldn't be an excuse for The Archer to shoot you with a crappy trick arrow.
And there also wouldn't be an excuse for you to get a hot chick as your sidekick.
Good thing she somehow just happens to have been tracking these aliens, and somehow has a whole arsenal of weapons that she's collected, and she's somehow managed to teach herself all these ninja skills.
This was a readable book, but everything felt slapped together in such a way that it didn't endear any of the characters to you.
So-n-so just died?
Eh. So what?
The hostile relationship with his brother needed some explanation. There was a lot of innuendo about some mysterious thing in their past, but without knowing what the hell they were talking about, that whole storyline fell flat.
Cole's relationship with his girlfriend was another who cares side-story. He lurves her, but for the life of me, I couldn't see why.
And then there's the aliens, themselves.
Why the fuck have they been twiddling their thumbs for 400 years or whatever? If you're that awesome, why didn't you pop up and take over before now?
Ok. In all fairness, maybe this has something to do with the Stormwatch team. Yeah, one of those guys makes a cameo in this.
You would think, Hey, the Stormwatch dude might have some answers for Cole!, but you would be wrong.
Nope. He just tries to kill him...because he's SEEN TOO MUCH.
If you enjoyed this title, then I'm happy for you.
But unless someone tells me that it really improves with volume 2, I think I'm done.
November 16, 2012
Cole Cash is Grifter, a former Special Forces operative now taken to grifting as a way of life. Donning a red handkerchief with black mascara streaks for a mask, he’s bafflingly considered “The World’s Most Wanted Man” after foiling an airborne alien plot to bring down a plane. The aliens – Daemonites – can, Triffids-style, become one with human hosts, controlling them like puppets and are – duh duh duuuuuuuuuh – planning to take over the world! Only, ahem, a “superhero” like Grifter can apparently stop them.
I wanted to like this book, expecting a kind of nutso action schlock fest that knew what it was and could have fun with readers’ expectations but instead Nathan Edmondson writes the story straight (read: dull). Grifter arbitrarily gets his red mask by chance: it snags on his hand as he smashes a window to use a phone, and thereafter decides to make it his trademark. I have no idea why he clings to it so much given that he’s always being de-masked, the consequence being that no-one knows who he is anyway and the ones chasing him know it’s him whether he’s got the mask on or not so it’s totally irrelevant. You might think it’s because he’s the “most wanted” man on the planet, but there are scenes like him on a plane without the mask and no one hassles him. This scene is doubly dumb because we’re supposed to believe a man covered in dynamite managed to get past airport security onto a plane and no-one sitting around him noticed him either.
The lack of characterisation is the biggest problem. Grifter’s motivation is about saving “the love of his life”, something we’re told rather than shown. She’s so bland a character she may as well be called “Woman#1” to differentiate herself from another female character whom Grifter also becomes momentarily involved with, another cardboard cut-out who could be called “Woman#2”. I have no idea who Grifter is and this book doesn’t help inform me. Sure you’re told he’s an ex-Special Forces operative with mad skills but there’s no indication of who the man is; Grifter’s motivations for everything seem to be “save Woman#1 or Woman#2” and “save Brother”. But I don’t know who any of these characters are so it’s a story about 2-dimensional characters saving one another while I yawn and look at my watch.
The art isn’t bad but the digitally drawn backgrounds really irked me after a while. They’re such a slapdash effort that I felt if Cafu, the artist, was going for that choice I’d rather he just blanked it out with colour rather than rendering the backgrounds so poorly.
The only cool thing about the book are the Daemonites, villains who are wasted on a character like Grifter and would be better suited to fighting Stormwatch or the Justice League. Grifter is a supporting character who stands out in a group like WildCATS but can’t carry a title as the main character – he’s just not an interesting enough personality. Maybe if more had been done to lay the groundwork for who he is, whether he stands for anything or not, and building the character’s world up a bit more before launching into a series of disjointed and pointless action scenes, I might’ve cared more for the book. As it is, the book was a chore to get through – despite a couple of diverting cameos from other DC superheroes – and wasn’t worth the effort.
I wanted to like this book, expecting a kind of nutso action schlock fest that knew what it was and could have fun with readers’ expectations but instead Nathan Edmondson writes the story straight (read: dull). Grifter arbitrarily gets his red mask by chance: it snags on his hand as he smashes a window to use a phone, and thereafter decides to make it his trademark. I have no idea why he clings to it so much given that he’s always being de-masked, the consequence being that no-one knows who he is anyway and the ones chasing him know it’s him whether he’s got the mask on or not so it’s totally irrelevant. You might think it’s because he’s the “most wanted” man on the planet, but there are scenes like him on a plane without the mask and no one hassles him. This scene is doubly dumb because we’re supposed to believe a man covered in dynamite managed to get past airport security onto a plane and no-one sitting around him noticed him either.
The lack of characterisation is the biggest problem. Grifter’s motivation is about saving “the love of his life”, something we’re told rather than shown. She’s so bland a character she may as well be called “Woman#1” to differentiate herself from another female character whom Grifter also becomes momentarily involved with, another cardboard cut-out who could be called “Woman#2”. I have no idea who Grifter is and this book doesn’t help inform me. Sure you’re told he’s an ex-Special Forces operative with mad skills but there’s no indication of who the man is; Grifter’s motivations for everything seem to be “save Woman#1 or Woman#2” and “save Brother”. But I don’t know who any of these characters are so it’s a story about 2-dimensional characters saving one another while I yawn and look at my watch.
The art isn’t bad but the digitally drawn backgrounds really irked me after a while. They’re such a slapdash effort that I felt if Cafu, the artist, was going for that choice I’d rather he just blanked it out with colour rather than rendering the backgrounds so poorly.
The only cool thing about the book are the Daemonites, villains who are wasted on a character like Grifter and would be better suited to fighting Stormwatch or the Justice League. Grifter is a supporting character who stands out in a group like WildCATS but can’t carry a title as the main character – he’s just not an interesting enough personality. Maybe if more had been done to lay the groundwork for who he is, whether he stands for anything or not, and building the character’s world up a bit more before launching into a series of disjointed and pointless action scenes, I might’ve cared more for the book. As it is, the book was a chore to get through – despite a couple of diverting cameos from other DC superheroes – and wasn’t worth the effort.
May 24, 2013
I enjoy Nathan Edmondson's action/spy writing and this book demonstrated several of his good character development qualities in his portrayal of Grifter's adventures. I felt an emotional connection to this character and rooted for him to succeed in each clever fly-by-the-seat-of-the-pants way he escaped from impossible situations.
However, the book veers into confusion half way through and doesn't recover. We also don't get enough details about Grifter's past and why he dons a red rag mask nor are we provided any clear view on how the alien threat and the US military are involved. I would also have liked to see more character development of the few supporting cast members. I wonder if editorial direction had more to do with the story slipping away from the narrative vision it began with than a failure on the part of the writer.
The art was fairly solid throughout which surprised me since there are a number of artists that worked on the book. Overall I wish this book had lived up to its potential - Grifter is a fun character to follow around!
However, the book veers into confusion half way through and doesn't recover. We also don't get enough details about Grifter's past and why he dons a red rag mask nor are we provided any clear view on how the alien threat and the US military are involved. I would also have liked to see more character development of the few supporting cast members. I wonder if editorial direction had more to do with the story slipping away from the narrative vision it began with than a failure on the part of the writer.
The art was fairly solid throughout which surprised me since there are a number of artists that worked on the book. Overall I wish this book had lived up to its potential - Grifter is a fun character to follow around!
June 24, 2013
I should state that my first experience with Grifter came in the Flashpoint storyline, so I had very little knowledge of him/character. I thought this would be a good place to start, as I've been trying to read every title that came out of the New 52 movement. While there is potential to this character, it's just very ho-hum writing and lots of clichés trying to set him up as a loner on a mission...been there, done that, yawn. I did like the crossover into Green Arrow turf, but I would have enjoyed more of that, and every time they introduced a character, it felt like there was almost no time to develop their story. Heck, I feel like they didn't really introduce Cole/Grifter all that well either. Time will tell I suppose, but I didn't feel like this title held up nearly as well as others from the New 52.
July 24, 2016
Most interesting! I've never heard of Grifter and it took a bit for me to get into it. Then it got exciting and a bunch of connections were made. Green Arrow shows up and it seems his company , not him, is up to something with these aliens. Then later on Midnighter from Stormwatch comes to kill Grifter and save the alien secret. Finally, at the end, these aliens talk of the Kryptonian who they plan on turning to their mission against the humans since he is alien too. Those are just the connections; the rest of the book is Grifter vs. the aliens with lots of action. I'd certainly read the next volume.
September 28, 2025
I am disappointed in this series. Yes, there are a lot of action scenes and I love the art in every panel but they don't build the character and they went straight to the action. I don't understand why he wore that mask because his enemies recognize him easily so it is not for disguise. There is also the character of Sofia who came out of nowhere and died suddenly after a couple of issues.
They should first build the character in this first volume especially if this is a reboot, a new universe. They should explain his motivation, tell his origin, establish character relationships, and put him first as a simple street-level hero. Then put the groundwork about the daemonites.
They should first build the character in this first volume especially if this is a reboot, a new universe. They should explain his motivation, tell his origin, establish character relationships, and put him first as a simple street-level hero. Then put the groundwork about the daemonites.
June 30, 2014
Before reading this I had no knowledge of Grifter, apart for his cameo in Flashpoint Paradox. I read a lot of not so great reviews on here, but lately I've found I disagree with most of them anyway so I gave it a go. I'm glad I did cause this was another solid read.
I have to say Cash Cole, aka Grifter has one of the coolest costumes that I've seen in a while. Just a red cloth with eye holes, so simple yet so effective. As a character I thought Nathan Edmondson did a great job at portraying a human character full of human flaws. All of what lead up to some wicked development as events unfold. We start off with Cole up to some con job shenanigans in New Orleans. Then he gets himself abducted by a bunch of E.T's who do god knows what to him. Waking 17 days later with no memory of what happened, except now he can hear the aliens communicate. I thought the Daemonites were designed really well, looking very cool with the glowing transparent blue bodies. This story was fresh not because of the alien invasion, cause we all know that's been done before, but the fact that usually there is a powerful super that can just smash through the alien horde to victory. Where here it's just one man out of his depth against an entire race of crazies. We also get some cool cameos by Green Arrow and Stormwatch's Midnighter to remind us again that we are still in the DC universe.
The art accompanies the story well with the great use of colour. The story is building some great tension and I'm looking forward to seeing how this series ends. After thoroughly enjoying both the Deathstroke title and this, I'm looking forward to seeing more of them both in the Team 7 series.
Bring on the next instalment!
I have to say Cash Cole, aka Grifter has one of the coolest costumes that I've seen in a while. Just a red cloth with eye holes, so simple yet so effective. As a character I thought Nathan Edmondson did a great job at portraying a human character full of human flaws. All of what lead up to some wicked development as events unfold. We start off with Cole up to some con job shenanigans in New Orleans. Then he gets himself abducted by a bunch of E.T's who do god knows what to him. Waking 17 days later with no memory of what happened, except now he can hear the aliens communicate. I thought the Daemonites were designed really well, looking very cool with the glowing transparent blue bodies. This story was fresh not because of the alien invasion, cause we all know that's been done before, but the fact that usually there is a powerful super that can just smash through the alien horde to victory. Where here it's just one man out of his depth against an entire race of crazies. We also get some cool cameos by Green Arrow and Stormwatch's Midnighter to remind us again that we are still in the DC universe.
The art accompanies the story well with the great use of colour. The story is building some great tension and I'm looking forward to seeing how this series ends. After thoroughly enjoying both the Deathstroke title and this, I'm looking forward to seeing more of them both in the Team 7 series.
Bring on the next instalment!
January 30, 2014
When DC rebooted their universe, they melted parts of their Wildstorm imprint universe into the new DCU. Basically, DC imported elements of the 90's WildC.A.T.s team (Grifter & Voodoo), Stormwatch (Midnighter), and Wildstorm's largest villains - the Daemonites into the DCU.
I have no experience reading a lot of Wildstorm stuff as a lot of it seems to be before my day as a comic reader, so I went into Grifter needing to do a lot of online history reading. Still, 8 issues later I cannot for the life of me figure our who the Daemonites are, or why the matter in the new DCU. At best they come off as C-level villains for C-level heroes (which are what Grifter and Voodoo are in this new DCU essentially). I will give the Daemonite arc some credit from extending into many of the lower tier DC titles in The New 52 - even the new Blackhawks have some element of Daemonite floating in their short 8 issue run...
The story line is thin and hard to figure out. Although if you're interested with how this title meshes with other new DCU titles it has direct ties to the new Voodoo and the Stormwatch titles existing within the DCU. There's also a tie-in issue with the Green arrow (so, points... I guess?).
If you like tons of crazy comic action in panels than this is right up your alley. If you were a fan of the old Wildstorm universe you may get more out of this than I did. Other than that it's pretty bland. Worth a read, definitely not a re-read.
dos stars.
I have no experience reading a lot of Wildstorm stuff as a lot of it seems to be before my day as a comic reader, so I went into Grifter needing to do a lot of online history reading. Still, 8 issues later I cannot for the life of me figure our who the Daemonites are, or why the matter in the new DCU. At best they come off as C-level villains for C-level heroes (which are what Grifter and Voodoo are in this new DCU essentially). I will give the Daemonite arc some credit from extending into many of the lower tier DC titles in The New 52 - even the new Blackhawks have some element of Daemonite floating in their short 8 issue run...
The story line is thin and hard to figure out. Although if you're interested with how this title meshes with other new DCU titles it has direct ties to the new Voodoo and the Stormwatch titles existing within the DCU. There's also a tie-in issue with the Green arrow (so, points... I guess?).
If you like tons of crazy comic action in panels than this is right up your alley. If you were a fan of the old Wildstorm universe you may get more out of this than I did. Other than that it's pretty bland. Worth a read, definitely not a re-read.
dos stars.
May 24, 2016
I just had a really nice 8 paragraph review written out that Goodreads glitched on & deleted when I tried to save it. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!
I love Grifter. He's one of my all-time favorite comics characters. Because of that, I went into this book with my expectations way too high. Nathan Edmonson deleivers a really choppy story that never flows naturally. It feels like stuff is missing between pages in places. His story gets 2.5 stars.
The highlight of the book is the artwork in the first 3 issues drawn by Cafu. The art is fantastic. Cole looks great both inand out of the Grifter mask. His art gets 4.5 stars, but the art of Scott Clark in issues #4-7 and the art of Daniel G, Sampere in issue #8 bring the overall art score down to 3.5 stars. Clark's art is inconsistent. Grifter's sideburns change several times between panels. Sampere's art is simply mediocre.
Overall, this is a 3 star book. I can't recommend this to anyone except die hard fans of Grifter. To those diehards, go in with really low expectations. The person writing this doesn't care as much about this character as you do.
I love Grifter. He's one of my all-time favorite comics characters. Because of that, I went into this book with my expectations way too high. Nathan Edmonson deleivers a really choppy story that never flows naturally. It feels like stuff is missing between pages in places. His story gets 2.5 stars.
The highlight of the book is the artwork in the first 3 issues drawn by Cafu. The art is fantastic. Cole looks great both inand out of the Grifter mask. His art gets 4.5 stars, but the art of Scott Clark in issues #4-7 and the art of Daniel G, Sampere in issue #8 bring the overall art score down to 3.5 stars. Clark's art is inconsistent. Grifter's sideburns change several times between panels. Sampere's art is simply mediocre.
Overall, this is a 3 star book. I can't recommend this to anyone except die hard fans of Grifter. To those diehards, go in with really low expectations. The person writing this doesn't care as much about this character as you do.
March 2, 2013
Picked it up when I saw it on the shelf at my library. I didn't know who the Grifter was, but the "New 52" grabbed my interest. Eight issues later, I still don't know who the Grifter is and I'm not sure I really care to know more. This was one of the duller collections of comics I've read recently. The art is nice, but the story is pretty run-of-the-mill, nonstop action, with very little in the way of character development. If you read some of the other one- and two-star reviews here, they'll give you a pretty good idea of why this book is such a failure. Coming so soon on the heels of reading DC's New 52 title Men of War, I can't help but wonder who ever greenlighted some of these titles in the first place. Who was supposed to be the audience for this?
April 25, 2013
This is a weird one - I've only had peripheral experience with the character of Grifter from his Wildstorm days, so this new version didn't have as much baggage to work around. Grifter is kind of like Constantine, except without magic. A rogue that fights villains and heroes with equal aplomb. He's a loner who somehow ends up holding his own in battles that are above his weight class. In this volume, some of that is explained and he's set up against one of the Wildstorm villain types that carried over into the new 52 as well. It's interesting. Not overly memorable, but fun while it lasts.
September 25, 2012
There really isn't much to say about this volume of Grifter, other than I'm glad they didn't turn him into a DC version of the Punisher. This is basically a continuation of Jim Lee's original WildCATS idea from '92, just without Lord Emp and Spartan and Maul. It's a fun book, but not worth re-reading at any point. I really wished they had given the art chores to Jae Lee, though. A lot of the work is really inconsistent.
March 25, 2013
The Grifter is aware of aliens. This starts off really well, the whole idea of only one man being able to tell who is alien, and everyone else thinks he's mad. Like the 'Invaders' TV show, this was very good. Then is just became a normal comic, and that was a shame. A decent read.
February 10, 2014
Grifter is like the DC Punisher to me. I really enjoyed this because I liked Grifter's attitude and just plain, sort of anti-hero bubble about him. It was a pretty good surprise title that I wasn't really expecting much from. Definitely interested to read the next volume.
August 16, 2013
This was back and forth between being interesting and a little slow. I found the overall premiss enjoyable. I think the characters could have been drawn a bit more distinctly. I'm likely to try another installment in the future just the same.
September 21, 2014
Una colección interesante desde el planteo y que, de alguna manera llega a funcionar mejor de lo que aparenta en una primera impresión. Los guiones son modestos pero el mapa que va dibujando despierta algún interés. Se deja leer.
May 15, 2014
Grifter is one of my favorite comic characters ever. I said it. You wanna fight about it?!
I like where they started going with the story but it didn't finish strong.
I like where they started going with the story but it didn't finish strong.
November 14, 2016
2.5 Stars
February 20, 2018
While this particular volume is not the original mid-1990s “Grifter” since this is part of DC Comic’s reboot series called “The New 52!” I thought this particular volume was a great introduction to the character. Over twenty years ago as a kid I badly wanted to read comics that involved the Grifter since I thought his mask looked kind of cool but I never got around to it until now: twenty years later. I enjoyed this “introduction.”
Volume one collects issues 1 through 6. In the story the Grifter’s real name is Cole Cash. Cole was once a former Special Forces soldier and top secret operator. The volume begins during his time after Cole’s military service in which as a civilian he got caught in a mix-up. Unfortunately his girlfriend does not know about his past and understand what was going on. Beginning in issue three I thought the writer wrote a good summary to each issue that kind of summarized the character and his situation: “From Special Ops soldier to con-artist, from con-artist to the Most Wnated Man int he universe. Cole Cash wears the mask that aliens fear; he is the hunter and the hunted. He is Grifter.” Cole Cash is on the run hunted by secret aliens, local authorities, secret military units and his own brother. He is misunderstood with little help available for him as his main enemy are these alien beings known as Daemonites who are able to possess human beings. Because of experiments done to Cole he is able to hear Daemonites telephatic communications which gives Cole Cash a slight advantage.
Overall I thought it was a fun read action thriller. I’m looking forward to what volume two brings us.
Volume one collects issues 1 through 6. In the story the Grifter’s real name is Cole Cash. Cole was once a former Special Forces soldier and top secret operator. The volume begins during his time after Cole’s military service in which as a civilian he got caught in a mix-up. Unfortunately his girlfriend does not know about his past and understand what was going on. Beginning in issue three I thought the writer wrote a good summary to each issue that kind of summarized the character and his situation: “From Special Ops soldier to con-artist, from con-artist to the Most Wnated Man int he universe. Cole Cash wears the mask that aliens fear; he is the hunter and the hunted. He is Grifter.” Cole Cash is on the run hunted by secret aliens, local authorities, secret military units and his own brother. He is misunderstood with little help available for him as his main enemy are these alien beings known as Daemonites who are able to possess human beings. Because of experiments done to Cole he is able to hear Daemonites telephatic communications which gives Cole Cash a slight advantage.
Overall I thought it was a fun read action thriller. I’m looking forward to what volume two brings us.
May 24, 2017
I can't help but be reminded of whenever a pro-wrestler is pulled from the training school or independent circuit and is sent out to the majors. He basically made a name for himself and now does it in a new company. That's what I figure it must be for Grifter, who basically was a name in Wildstorm comics, now makes it in DC's New 52.
I must say this Grifter is pretty cool, having read and watched him in DC's Flashpoint comic/movie. Though I am aware that when it comes to the New 52, the alterations must have been significant and I'm not prepared to read the original just yet.
Cole Cash is a former soldier who went to being a con man, much like John Constantine. And also like John Constantine has an unexplained connection to the supernatural. As he's running and striving for answers he realizes his face is what these creatures look for, so he dons a mask and the uniform of a SWAT officer and becomes The Grifter. In many ways he reminds me a little of Roddy Piper's character from They Live as well as John Constantine. Giving it a really cool dynamic.
Nice story. B
I must say this Grifter is pretty cool, having read and watched him in DC's Flashpoint comic/movie. Though I am aware that when it comes to the New 52, the alterations must have been significant and I'm not prepared to read the original just yet.
Cole Cash is a former soldier who went to being a con man, much like John Constantine. And also like John Constantine has an unexplained connection to the supernatural. As he's running and striving for answers he realizes his face is what these creatures look for, so he dons a mask and the uniform of a SWAT officer and becomes The Grifter. In many ways he reminds me a little of Roddy Piper's character from They Live as well as John Constantine. Giving it a really cool dynamic.
Nice story. B
July 29, 2020
Bon, Marvel et DC se débrouillent sur les séries qui touchent leurs héros principaux mais en ce qui concerne les seconds couteaux c'est assez lamentables. Voodoo, grifter, stormwatch, legion lost, etc. Scénario nullissime, dessins dégueulasses, on voit qu'ils ont cherché à meublé les sorties hebdomadaires. Bref je préfère largement taper du côté de label comme image comics qui, même si ce n'est pas toujours nickel, sait prendre des risques et proposer des comics de qualité. Je finirais la collection new 52 mais après ça je me cantonnerai à Batman JL et Batgirl pour tout ce qui touche à DC.
February 12, 2025
#1 - 3 I’m sure Grifter was in one of the team books but I don’t understand how it relates to this.
Story is a bit of a mess. Some art’s okay, other parts are scrappy.
#4 - 6. Story taking shape better now. And the art was pretty good.
#7 - 8 Ties in to Stormwatch, Voodoo and Superman. Still don't really know where this story is going but I'm concerned that from #9 Rob Liefeld takes over writing duties. Do I even want to read it?
Overall review, not likely to ever revisit this, but art was okay for the most part.
Story is a bit of a mess. Some art’s okay, other parts are scrappy.
#4 - 6. Story taking shape better now. And the art was pretty good.
#7 - 8 Ties in to Stormwatch, Voodoo and Superman. Still don't really know where this story is going but I'm concerned that from #9 Rob Liefeld takes over writing duties. Do I even want to read it?
Overall review, not likely to ever revisit this, but art was okay for the most part.
January 20, 2026
Es un 3,5 (como todos últimamente).
El personaje principal mola una barbaridad y es muy fácil empatizar con él, el problema es todo los demás, los secundarios solo aparecen para morir de manera trágica y olvidarse de ellos al capítulo siguiente.
Los villanos plantean cosas muy guays pero que se quedan todas a mitad de camino y viendo que solamente hay un volumen más de este personaje entiendo que no cerrarán todos los arcos
El personaje principal mola una barbaridad y es muy fácil empatizar con él, el problema es todo los demás, los secundarios solo aparecen para morir de manera trágica y olvidarse de ellos al capítulo siguiente.
Los villanos plantean cosas muy guays pero que se quedan todas a mitad de camino y viendo que solamente hay un volumen más de este personaje entiendo que no cerrarán todos los arcos
June 16, 2020
Yet another new series in DC's New 52 series, Grifter presents us with the story of a con-man pursued by aliens for some unknown purpose. As with some of the other New 52 series, the artwork is lovely, but the story a bit thin.
December 30, 2020
Wow, what a bad book. I feel like Nathan Edmondson has no idea who Grifter is. Added to that is the nonsensical plot that seems like giant pieces are missing. The story is beyond lame and this book was such a quick read due to lack of dialogue. When there is dialogue is painfully bad. The only saving grace is the artwork by Cafu and Scott Clark is decent. Overall, dismal.
January 10, 2023
A rather pathetic over-used plot and a superhero who doesn't understand he's super collide like 2 giant marshmallows in a cup of tepid cocoa in this volume. Please let my pain avoid yours for you. DON'T read this dreck if your life depends on you doing so. Death is better than the writing.
April 16, 2018
About halfway through we're introduced to a racially stereotyped, very annoying sidekick/love interest, and then the book goes from not great to barely readable.
August 14, 2019
This comic was totally fantastic.
February 15, 2021
To be honest this reads like a bad ROM the Space Knight issue. Honestly, this is pretty bad. Even the guest appearance by Green Arrow didn’t help.
August 27, 2024
I love Grifter as a character and this does NOT do him justice
Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews