Peacemaker Presents Vigilante/Eagly Double Feature #1 – James Gunn, Story Consultant; Tim Seeley, Rex Ogle, Freddie Stroma, Writers; Mitch Gerads, Matteo Lolli, Artists; John Kalisz, Colorist
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: From the deranged world of the TV series, this miniseries contains two stories featuring some fan favorite characters as brought to life by James Gunn. The first story, “A Time for Fables” by Seeley and Gerads (a rare time when he’s not working with Tom King these days), picks up on Vigilante as he continues his mission – killing random criminals and low-level shakedown artists in his neighborhood, inspired by Peacemaker. But after some dying words from one of the goons, and a misinterpreted instruction from Peacemaker, he becomes convinced that he’s part of a much larger criminal and otherworldly conspiracy – one that needs to be eliminated by force. It’s an ultraviolent, entertaining story that’s elevated by the art of one of the best talents in the industry. While Vigilante isn’t much of a lead character on his own, being essentially a nerdy Punisher, this story has a great anarchic energy that lifts it above the character’s usual fare.
Next up, it’s Rex Ogle and Matteo Lolli’s turn with “Peaceful Vacation”, a chaotic story starring none other than Peacemaker’s loyal animal sidekick Eagly. After the two get into some tension on a mission, they decide to take a vacation to refresh and recharge. The destination? Alaska, but first there’s a long flight ahead of them. With Eagly established as his emotional support animal, they board the plane and very quickly get into some disputes with fellow passengers. Peacemaker’s crude, sexist buffoonery doesn’t go over too well, and the duo wind up angering a flight attendant – and that’s all nothing compared to the poison gas that floods into the cabin and winds up knocking them unconscious, just in time to be captured. This is a much more broadly funny story than the first, but they both fit into the anarchic, ultraviolent tone that we love from Gunn’s earliest DC works.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
