Quietomega's Profile

Great art, average story.

A solid start to the series with Lemire and Ramos collaborating very well. Lemire has a great take on the characters and Ramos nails the body language of each. The biggest problems of the issue are that it's all set-up and bringing the team together (though this is understandable since the creative team is demanded to introduce the new status quo), and that the current dilemma reads very similarly to House of M's Decimation. That said, there's a lot of promise in the series, especially since the characters are all likeable again for the first time in a long time, and it feels like Lemire's playing a long game.

The characterisation and art are as strong as in the first issue, with Lemire having a great handle on the interpersonal relationships as well as the voices of each of his cast, and Ramos continuing to do a great job with body language and expressions. However, the pace feels decompressed; the first two issues feel like they could have been compressed into one super-sized issue without any significant loss. Moreover, on re-reading the issue, I just realised that Ramos' cartoony art style might not be the most apt since Lemire's tone is much bleaker than I initially thought. That said, at the very least, the characters are written closer to their classic characterisation and there's a stronger sense of camaraderie which has been absent in the X-books for quite a while.

The issue suffers from the same pacing problems as with the previous two issues, though it also displays the same strengths of strong characterisation, and dialogue. Ramos' designs for the characters are pretty strong but his work is starting to feel really sloppy and a mismatch for the series.

Really uneven art with a messy narrative.

Each issue of the series has been typically dense, and this one's no different. A lot happens in the issue as Harada takes a mandatory break and everything goes to hell. Dysart makes great use of flashbacks in order to inform the present arc, and continues doing a fantastic job of making the plot progress because of the machinations of his characters rather than having events occur and having the characters just react. CAFU does some fine work, with strong expressions and "acting."

A very fun, strong, and confident debut issue by the creative team, with a tone strongly reminiscent of The Authority back when Warren Ellis was writing it. Orlando perfectly captures Midnighter's voice, with nice balance of smugness, sensitivity and self-awareness that makes this one of the most fun debuts in a long while.

A perfect ending to the series.

A rather subdued start to the new arc. The art is as strong as ever, and the cliffhanger is great, but it feels like a lot of table setting.

This arc definitely isn't the series at its best, which is saying something since the last arc, which suffered from notably tumultuous production problems, was both better written and better illustrated. Wiebe's writing lacks the energy it had for the first 10 issues, while Fowler's art is rather stiff. That said, at least Fowler is steadily improving as the arc has gone along.

The best part of the issue is that it signals the end of this mediocre arc. Wiebe succeeds mostly in writing an emotional splitting of the group (with solicits unfortunately spoiling who leaves) but everything around it feels half-baked; the pacing definitely could have been improved to make the revelation of what the Rat Queen did in the past carry more weight but, as it is, it feels half-hearted. Not helping are the delays between issues, which have been common throughout the run of the series, have only aggravated the uneven pacing of the arc. It's unfortunate that Tess Fowler stepped in during a time when the writing has been underwhelming since the downturn in quality will be attributed to her, but she's been really consistent strong throughout the arc; she does a great job in the action sequences and does an even better job with the emotional parts, with her Betty being a standout.

Now this is more like it! The issue brings back the sense of humour, camaraderie and energy that the entire Demons storyline lacked, making for a very fun issue. Both Wiebe and Fowler are noticeably stronger in this issue with Wiebe delivering great quips and character interactions and Fowler giving clearer and more distinct art. It's a shame that the series is going on hiatus after this issue, leaving us with a cliffhanger that won't be resolved for a while since it really feels like it's finally back on track.

Very strong start to the crossover, with Tom King getting the characterisation of each of the characters and delivering a very intriguing plot. The issue is bogged down by how many artists there are; there is no way to keep the book looking consistent, and there are pages which look more obviously rushed than others.

The arc as a whole was pretty underwhelming considering its scope. Tomasi and Gleason at least get the characterisations of the different multiversal iterations of Superman, but, for such a large threat, the resolution was really underwhelming. It's a pity as well since the reintroduction of the multiversal concepts last seen in The Multiversity or Final Crisis was really intriguing.

As expected from the Scalped creators, Aaron and Guera deliver a fantastically brutal and bleak book, one that doesn't pull any punches in its violence or language. Aaron's precision with language serves to build up his pre-apocalyptic world and the characters; Aaron makes each line count, whether it's punctuating Cain's rage and despair at his lot in life, or the general debauchery found in most humans. Guera is the perfect partner, and his art is arguably stronger now than it was in the entirety of Scalped. His figures are expressive, the violence brutal because of impactful his linework is, and his setting perfectly depicts why God would send the Flood. My one complaint is that the first half, which introduces Cain, does run a little too long, and it could have been condensed. However, the series looks like it could match the heights of Scalped if not exceed it.

Seems to serve more as a recap or one that clarifies the events of the series thus far than anything else. On one hand, this series has desperately needed it since Ales Kot has been unusually more obtuse than usual with his plotting for this series, especially compared to the first 3/4 of Zero or Secret Avengers, but this comes with scarcely any plot progression in this issue. The series is very oddly paced, and considering that Kot pitched the series as his take on Hellblazer, this has been pretty underwhelming thus far. On the bright side, the art team delivers some consistently strong work, with Ricardo Ortiz' pencils and inks and Lee Loughridge's coloring delivering some strongly evocative work.

The arc concludes in a manner that is both rushed and drawn out, with the bulk of it being centred on a fight between Diana and Donna. Characterisation continues to be thin with hardly any regard for consistency, although this is beneficial for Diana since at least she acts in character for the first time since the run began. Meanwhile, Donna Troy continues to be a bastardised version of herself, with the narrative captions implying this will be the last we see of her for a while, which makes this even more disappointing. The backup story works better than the main story by giving some motivation to the arc's villain, but it also suffers from generally underwhelming writing.