By: Scott McDaniel & John Rozum (writers), Scott McDaniel (penciller), Andy Owens (inker), Guy Major (colorist)
The Story: Come on, Static, it’s New York—you have to expect to get shanked at some point.
The Review: These teen-centric titles tend to follow a somewhat familiar formula. The protagonists are all various shades of breezy smart-alecks with a modest gallery of C-list/cheesy rogues, and their storylines mostly revolve around trying to balance real life and vigilante life (while having fun!), occasionally delving into mildly dramatic territory.
Static follows this trend more closely than some. Our hero falls into tiresome trap of trying way too hard to come up with witty lines every other panel. While a few do have some juvenile cleverness (“You’re the first woman I’ve ever seen whose legs can shave themselves.”), most are either pointlessly dumb (“…moisturizer can soften unsightly, scaly skin!”) or just plain pointless (“They’re the latest in flying fashion!”). By the way, these lines represent a mere sample of a whole slew Static tosses in one five-page scene.
For our dose of the mildly dramatic, we have the well-worn “It’s all my fault” (which Virgil actually says at one point) guilt trip. At least Virge doesn’t dwell in his angst, what with Frieda on long distance rebutting with the also traditional “Everything happens for a reason” bit. This all gets followed up by a re-steeled sense of purpose as Static vows to become “stronger,” “sharper” so he “can make things right.”
What’s really problematic with this exchange is that so much of it refers to events that apparently took place before this title even started, from Static’s past continuity. While McDaniel and Rozum’s respect for history is commendable, these vague hints of the past (“…the reason we moved to New York…the reason I have…two sisters named Sharon.”) lead to confusion at times.
The Sharon-clone plotline especially feels a bit distracting and out-of-place. Despite getting a dedicated allotment of each issue to itself, little has advanced on this conflict. This issue once again merely emphasizes how indistinguishable the Sharons are from each other, and aside from introducing another possible antagonist in the sketchy Dr. Davidson (“…we do not let frivolous privacy laws keep us from doing what is right.”), the sequence adds nothing to the story.
Actually, the most surprising and intriguing plotline this issue presents is attached not to any of the primary cast, but to one of the villains, Pale Man (the Joker lookalike). It turns out his loyalties may be more complicated than we thought, since the origins of his clownish appearance came about in pretty traumatic circumstances. That trauma surfaces again as his “partner,” Piranha, unleashes the mutating Q-Juice to make monster-soldiers from their henchmen.
This seems an appropriate time to talk about McDaniel’s art, which has lately proven too simplistic to flesh out the script (despite McDaniel being partially responsible for the writing). In the scene where Piranha blasts Q-Juice upon his henchmen, McDaniel inserts a sequence showing a cop trying to herd a crowd away from the fumes of what is apparently Joker venom. He does this so suddenly and with so little context that it took me a couple reads to realize it’s showing Pale Man’s flashback. More problematically, the sequence is obviously intended to be grim and emotional, but McDaniel’s cartoonish figures make it look silly and bland instead (“No. No-ho-ho-ho. Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!”). It’s a problem that infects the series as a whole.
Conclusion: This title has the distinct potential to be a strong, entertaining series: it has a likable star, a few worthy storylines, and some cool concepts. But it’s also undermined by forced dialogue, predictable execution, and weak art. I have it in me to stick it out for one issue more, but the prospects of dramatic improvement are very low indeed.
Grade: C
– Minhquan Nguyen
Some Musings: – “New York cranks out monsters faster than Sundollar cranks out lattes!” Seriously, Static, enough with these jokes. I feel like I’m reading something a fast-food franchise would print on their napkins.
Grade
Conclusion