By: Nathan Edmondson (writer), Scott Clark (penciller), Dave Beaty & Walden Wong (inkers), Andrew Dalhouse (colorist)
The Story: Wonder Woman might give up the power of flight for this invisible plane.
The Review: I might as well be honest and admit that lately, out of a sense of economy (and also in preparation for DC’s “second wave” of series), I’ve been actively pruning the number of titles on my pull list. It’s really a testament to the higher quality of titles across the board of the new 52 that the picking and choosing has been rather tough. Just last year, a C+ book would have made the grade to be kept on, but now even B- books face the risk of getting dropped.
An issue or so ago, Grifter might very well have ended up as one of these lighter middleweights I cut simply because it wasn’t dazzling me, despite its solid quality. Then came this issue, and suddenly I find ridding myself of the series a lot less painful than before. This change comes as a bit of a surprise; even though the title has experienced a slow decline in nearly all respects, not for a moment would you expect yourself actually reading it with disgust.
Edmondson must be slipping on his game, or else the steadily descending numbers on this title has left him discouraged and uninspired, for the dialogue has never been so problematic before. Cole narrates, “Trust is faith and faith means things unseen. If I can’t see it I can’t count on it and I won’t hope for it.” Not only are the lines clunky in rhythm, they also don’t make much sense, given the fact he’s a con artist, who often has to rely on a lot of unseen factors—a point he even concedes later. Sure, he recasts these factors as “variables,” but the conflict of ideas still practically screams at you.
And if the dialogue doesn’t bug you with its forced quality, it’ll certainly grate on you by getting over the top, practically soapy: “Oh, Cole! How did—why did—” “You brought my girlfriend here, you animals?” “Let her watch as the curate wraps his black fingers around this man’s throat and—” Flipping through early issues, I don’t see one that’s even gotten close to this level of silly melodrama. How it’s come to this is anyone’s guess.
On top of all that, Edmondson has gotten rather sloppy in his plotting. It seems he’s gotten impatient to roll towards the climax of this arc, as he leaves gaps, skips, and holes all throughout this issue. How the heck does Sofia manage to break into what appears to be a hyper-advanced starship—a cloaked one, at that? Isn’t it astonishing that such an advanced species as the Daemonites use earthling ropes to bind Cole? Isn’t it also amazing, however, that he somehow manages to break free of them in two panels, without you ever once seeing how? At some point, shouldn’t someone explain why it’s so important to sacrifice Cole to the Black Curate?
If Edmondson seems to struggle on the script, Clark’s just coasting on the art. I’m not the most attentive or detail-oriented appreciator of art, but there are some obvious absences of logic here that even I can’t miss. For example: at one point, Sofia just stands ramrod straight and shoots at a Daemonite right before her, look for all the world like a robot programmed to do so. The Daemonite, in spite of his head splashing open, also just stands, nonplussed. The lesson here is just because the art looks pretty doesn’t mean it has much life to it.
Conclusion: As it turns out, leaving this title for Dropped isn’t so hard after all. A thoroughly underwhelming issue sure takes the sting out of a break-up
Grade: C-
– Minhquan Nguyen
Some Musings: – Edmondson’s sporadic use of Spanish for Sofia’s dialogue has all the hallmarks of a poorly-written skit for a Spanish class: “Do I gotta knock, hombres, or you gonna let me in?” “No lo credo! The Daemonites keep all of this hidden from us, invisibly?” “All the more reason to get what I came for and get out rapidamente.” “Not on my watch, idiota!”
Grade
Conclusion