Bombshells United #13 – Marguerite Bennett, Writer; Sandy Jarrell, Artist; Kelly Fitzpatrick, Colorist
Ratings:
Ray – 9/10
Corrina: Canary!
WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW
Ray: As Bombshells United – and the whole Bombshells franchise – enters its final act, this issue proves that it’s still got plenty of tricks up its sleeve. The focus turns back to one of the most entertaining, but underused, elements of the story – the Batgirls, the group of scrappy young crimefighters inspired by Batwoman. But the latest threat to the Batgirls clubhouse isn’t from without – it’s from within. Three of their most trusted members – Harper Row, Bette Kane, and Tim Drake – have gone off the deep end, seemingly brainwashed into grinning, violent maniacs by a mysterious music. As they attack everyone else with odd Stepford smiles on their faces, the rest of the group struggles to round them up and figure out the source of their apparent possession – with the only clue they find pointing them to the mysterious Black Canary, a reclusive musical legend now living in Hawaii. Dinah’s been missing from this title for too long, so this is when I got excited.
The quest for Black Canary sends Batgirls Alysia Yeoh and Felicity Smoak to Hawaii, where a volcano is about to erupt. This segment is one of the most comic-booky we’ve gotten yet, and it’s enhanced by another new arrival – Bumblebee, who attends an elite school for young geniuses in Honolulu and designed her own robotic wings. The character’s gained a huge amount of popularity thanks to her role in DC Superhero Girls, and it’s good to see DC capitalizing on that beyond her lackluster appearances in Titans. Between being threatened by lava and finding Black Canary lurking around the island, the heroes have a lot on their plates this issue – and that’s before the Suicide Squad shows up, with a twist ending about why Dinah’s hiding. This title sometimes manages to pack more into one issue than some do in an arc, and as it winds up its run, it looks like it’s going out on a high note.
Corrina: One of the perks of this series is that Bennet has been left alone to explore not only her own version of the DC Universe but that she can experiment with different types of storytelling. The last arc was more of an epic poem about grief, loss, and love. This tale shows readers the skewed perspectives of the Batgirls who have been controlled, turning it more into a surreal dream, at least until the drama shifts to Hawaii.
But the main appeal of this issue for me was Black Canary, probably my favorite DC character. This is the second Elseworlds where she’s been featured recently (the other in Gotham City Garage) and I’m curious to how this version turns out before the series ends, especially given Barbara Gordon is now part of the Suicide Squad.
Bumblebee’s appearance is another bonus and very welcome. She’s come a long way from a character who created a supersuit just to show her boyfriend that anyone could be a superhero.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
Disclaimer: GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
