![]() ![]() ![]() Shaw makes Madman the coolest and most fun character in this book in two pages. The standout piece of art in this book has to be the singular action scene focusing on Madman. These characters are full of personality and detail under his pen and the book is immensely better for it.Ī part of the world being so detailed, though, is that Shaw is presumably also sticking these wink-and-nod references in the background and it’s only fair to say that it’s getting old on his part as well. Most of the time the story is succeeding, it’s because you can connect with the sudden glee Shaw is depicting Ava with, or the consternated decision making of Madman. He also makes a conscientious effort to fill these characters with as much emotional weight as possible. His work is dynamic and exciting, and the pop-art aesthetic given to the real-world comic book characters never gets old. However, this only exacerbates Cates earlier issues because readers can notice how comparatively better Madman’s presence in this book is to anyone else’s.įrom the first few pages, though, it’s fairly evident that Shaw is the star of this book. He’s consistently the most heroic character in the book, and that’s a simple concept that shockingly works really well in superhero books. His presence in this book is exciting, but even more than that Cates writes him in such a kind, lovable manner that he’s impossible not to enjoy. In contrast to all of that, Cates’ work shines most in this book, and Shaw’s too for that matter, when it focuses on Madman. This isn’t to say readers should have expected Superman or Doctor Strange to show up in this series, but rather to say that Cates is largely failing to deliver on relevant surprises, or on the exciting premise of this book. This wouldn’t be as much of an issue if Cates hadn’t teased Doctor Blaqk as both Superman and Doctor Strange earlier in the series. In a story sold as a fantasy-fueled crossover of comic book worlds, it comes across as vanity to have the Paybacks the focus of much of the story. What is a drag, though, is the over-pronounced presence of Cates’ own original characters. This isn’t a drag of C-list heroes though, as they are often the most fun elements of the series. ![]() It seems that truthfully, all readers are going to get here are C-list heroes and Cates’ own original creations. Listen to the latest episode of our weekly comics podcast! ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |