By: Geoff Johns and Peter J. Tomasi (writers), Ivan Reis, Ardian Syaf, Scott Clark and Joe Prado (artists), Vicente Cifuentes and David Beaty (inkers), Peter Steigerwald and Beth Sotelo (colorists)
The Story: The White Ring is charging on Deadman’s finger. Hawkman and Hawkgirl (with Carol Ferris) take on Hawkgirl’s entity-charged mom.
What’s Good: I am digging the whole Boston Brand (Deadman) storyline. I love that he got the girl. I love that he reconciled with his dusty grandfather. I love that he’s carrying around the one white ring. Johns and Tomasi write a solid confused hero and in a movie, I could totally see a young Harrison Ford pulling off this affable ne’er-do-well. Where is the ring going with Brand? Damned if I know, but the tension is rising every time we see him. Deathstorm with the zombie versions of the Brightest Day resurrectees in the Anti-Universe and the White Lantern ratchets things up even more.
On the action side, Johns and Tomasi are no slouches either. The action with Hawkgirl and Hawkman against the in-law from hell is tense, with the battle slipping one way, then another, while clues to both the love part of the spectrum and the ultimate climax of the series are building everywhere (“The bones are moving!”).
Visually, this art team is bringing some impressive talent (draftsmanship, layout, dynamism, evocative expressions, etc) to the table and the money shot splashpage of the Hawkman/Hawkgirl/mom battle is not only awesome, but is exemplary of what you get in each and every panel in the book. I should take a moment to also note how important color is to this series and how well Peter Steigerwald and Beth Sotelo paint the pages. The dominance of violets, whites and darks in different settings and situations really underpin the moods the writers are aiming for.
What’s Not So Good: While the draftsmanship, inking, colors and intriguing transparency tricks in the art are all impressive, I have to say there were a few panels scattered through this issue where I was turning the page this was and that trying to figure out what was going on in the fights. I don’t think it was the normal problem of the artist just zooming in too close for the reader to understand the action. There were some panels where even if we had zoomed out, it wouldn’t have made things any clearer. On some other panels, zooming out would have helped a bit. This is not a minor point, because you can’t be confusing your reader.
Conclusion: Some great art mixed with some flaws, mixed with some great story and suspense. Worth the price of admission. Bring friends. Check it out!
Grade: B
-DS Arsenault
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Conclusion