One-Star Squadron #6 – Mark Russell, Writer; Steve Lieber, Artist; Dave Stewart, Colorist
Ray – 8/10
Ray: The conclusion of this long, strange tale of superheroes vs. Capitalism follows up on last issue’s devastating cliffhanger—that in his attempt to commit insurance fraud by burning down Heroes 4 U, Minute Man accidentally killed a sleeping Gangbuster. Making it worse, Red Tornado helped him escape justice, and has been plagued by guilt ever since. When word breaks of Minute Man’s dead, Reddy investigates—and finds that it’s a fake-out. Thus begins a quest to track down the former members of the corporation, make amends, and find out the truth. Some of these segments are funny, others are powerful, but the book still feels at war with itself at times. This is a clever satire, but it’s also a horrible tragedy, and the happy ending that the book ends with feels a little unearned with the death of a broken hero looming over it. Russell’s satire has felt a little darker, a little more caustic lately, and it doesn’t work quite as well as some of his brilliant past work.
Suicide Squad #15 – Dennis Hopeless, Writer; Eduardo Pansica/Julio Ferreira, Jesus Merino, Artists; Marcelo Maiolo, Matt Herms, Colorists
Ray – 7/10
Ray: It often seemed like this series never had a clear direction, being bogged down from the start in crossovers and building to the Earth-3 war rather than putting its team through its paces. So for this final issue, new writer Dennis Hopeless has dialed things back and is giving us an old-fashioned caper. Broke and dealing with various personal problems—including Bloodsport’s hundreds of multiversal brothers—the Squad decides to kidnap Lex Luthor to fill their coffers. This goes about as well as you’d expect, with the motley crew getting thoroughly outplayed by Lex and only getting one over on him thanks to a secret weapon. It’s a chaotic, fast-paced final issue that potentially hints at a new status quo and a new boss for the Suicide Squad, but who knows if it’ll ever be followed up on. This team had a few fun characters, but they never gelled into a team—even a disposable one.
Hardware: Season One #5 – Brandon Thomas, Writer; Denys Cowan, Penciller; Bill Sienkiewicz, Inker; Chris Sotomayor, Colorist
Ray – 8/10
Ray: It’s the penultimate issue of the final first-wave Milestone book, and in many ways it feels like this entire series has been building up to one moment. The battle of wills between genius Curtis Metcalf and his ruthless mentor Edwin Alva has defined the series, and while Curtis is abroad seeking help from a former ally of Alva’s, his few supporters are finding themselves in danger as they try to expose Alva’s criminality. Most of this issue is various people running from explosions, which can feel a little repetitive, but Alva makes such a vile villain and the tension as Curtis returns to Dakota to face him is great. The arrival of the Milestone villain Barrage, who has a unique power, should make for a fun final showdown. It doesn’t feel like this book has set up quite as much as Static or Icon & Rocket did in their runs, but it does feel like he’s shaping up to be a major player in the universe going forward.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
