Speed Force #5 – Jarrett Williams, Writer; Daniele Di Nicuolo, George Kambadais, Artists; Andrew Dalhouse, Pete Pantazis, Colorists
Ray – 7.5/10
Ray: The penultimate issue of this series finds the young heroes uniting to take on the oddball collection of villains taking over minds—as well as sorting out some of the personal issues between them. One thing this series has done right is to split the action and story between the two groups, giving the villains as much of a role in the story. There’s a great segment here involving Fiddler as he visits Madame Xanadu that gives a little more insight into his motivations. The bond between Ace and Avery is at the heart of this issue, but I’m not sure adding the other young heroes to this book has really worked out. Superboy jobs out surprisingly easily, Blue Beetle is mostly off-panel, and Roundhouse is… annoying. The ending to this issue is pretty funny, but all the action is a little chaotic and I feel like the strong points here would have been stronger with a tighter cast.
Fables #162 – Bill Willingham, Writer; Mark Buckingham, Penciller; Steve Leialoha, Inker; Lee Loughridge, Colorist
Ray – 7/10
Ray: And so we come to the end of Fables… for the second time, with a lot of drama along the way. This run started strong, but ultimately came across feeling rather scattered, and never more so than the final issue, which is essentially just a speedrun recap of what comes next for some characters but not all of them. Peter Pan is dealt with in a very abrupt but clever fashion by Jack of the Green, and Bigby is saved in a surprisingly graphic scene. From then, the characters rebuild their lives and we get a look into the future—including Pan’s incredibly graphic fate reminiscent of another iconic mythological character, and a callback to the darkest story Fables has ever done. Then there’s the hilariously strange Cindy and Pinocchio plot. Narrated by Sam, this final issue feels more like a rush job than anything, which isn’t surprising given all the behind-the-scenes stuff. But nothing I’ve seen has convinced me this series wouldn’t have been better ending at 75.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
