Oh, hey there, Bat-fans! Nice to see you! I’ve been on a sort of mini vacation. You see, I figured out a sweet way to do way less review work than I normally would! It’s a genius plan, really. I wait, say, about two months, and then come back to do a double review! Sort of a two-steps-at-a-time approach.
Anyway, lets catch up on Issues #4 and-
Issue #4? After 10 weeks? That’s it?
Well, okay, I guess.
Did we learn anything in those 10 weeks?
No. No we didn’t. The short of it is, this book is just as much of a nothingburger as issue #3 was. This issue kicks off with some exposition and yet MORE setup for things yet to come, as if we didn’t have enough to see resolve. In case you forgot about that, by the way, the book then IMMEDIATELY launches into a recap of Helena Wayne’s whole deal, the events of the first issue, and so forth. This is probably because Geoff was worried you forgot about the first issue of the series, given that it came out 7 months ago.
Again, we’re only on issue #4. 7 months. Hoo boy.
The actual content of the issue is… fine? It mostly consists of a big fight between Per Degaton and the present-day JSA, where Helena is given the chance to show how special and cool she is, because the time… energy… from her travels makes her… invisible… to Degaton’s… time-vision…
I have a migraine.
Outside of this, we get some pretty bland and nothing character bits with Power Girl and Huntress, who just kind of chat about what the future is like (though nothing is actually said, Power Gir just asks what her future is like and Helena… smiles?
No, really, what is this expression supposed to convey?
We also cut to Yolanda and Beth, who many of you rightfully pointed out last review have been dead! Well, it turns out they’ve been alive, actually! They’re taking Lazarus Pills to combat… Eclipso’s… influence…
I can’t do this anymore. Let’s talk about the art.
Mikel Janin and Jordie Bellaire make this a damn pretty book to look at, if nothing else. Unfortunately, the book doesn’t look as good as previous issues. Janin’s use of 3d models in his process really stands out here, especially with the amount of dynamic action scenes. Everything feels weirdly static, like a weird CG slo-mo shot of a 2000s action movie. The colors pop, sure, and do a LOT to help the scenes, but there’s only so much a good colorist can help art like this.
The keen-eyed readers among you might have noticed that I haven’t said anything about comic legend Jerry Ordway’s contributions to this book yet. That would be because he has drawn exactly two pages. One of them, the splash page for the title card. The other, is one page in the middle of the book in which Degaton talks to the older Degaton to reiterate Helena Wayne’s special time immunity that we already saw literally three pages prior. It’s an odd scene, and feels like a waste of everyone’s time.
Recommended if…
- You’ve really been waiting for this issue.
- I’m struggling here
- Please, don’t make me
Overall
I cannot tell who this book is for other than Geoff Johns.
Score: 4/10
I’ll see you all in ten years for issue #5.
DISCLAIMER: DC Comics provided Batman News with a copy of this comic for the purpose of this review.
