Team Seven #4 – Review

By: Justin Jordan (story), Jesús Merino (art), Nathan Eyring (colors)

The Story: The difference between Slade and Eclipso is like night and later that night.

The Review: For any of you interested in the reviewing experience, let me just say the obvious that you never want to be in the awkward position of recognizing a writer’s talents, but concluding that his story is kind of lame anyway.  While you can definitely appreciate the rhythm and flow of Jordan’s writing, the plot itself has been less than inspired, with definite shades of editorial mandate.

It’s very, very hard for me to believe, given the mission statement and tone Jordan set up for this series at the start, that he ever intended to feature the Black Diamond and Eclipso as the primary plot device and antagonist for his first arc.  After all, Team Seven is a gang of highly skilled fighters and shooters; what do they really know about fighting demonic possession or demons themselves?  How can they use their mercenary know-how to defeat things that bullets can’t touch or simply bounce off of?

Team Seven #2 – Review

By: Justin Jordan (story), Ron Frenz (breakdowns), Julius Gopez (pencils), Scott Hanna (inks), Nathan Eyring (colors)

The Story: It’s hard to tell if everyone’s gone crazy because of a Jekyll serum or severe jet lag.

The Review: Even though Jordan gets to work with some pretty recognizable characters, it’s apparent that some intensive work needs to be done to make them stand out in people’s minds. Team Seven ostensibly works within a much more realistic framework of conflicts than, say, the Justice League, and so they tend to come across a little more realistically than their superheroic peers.  However, the closer characters get to reality, the harder it is to make them memorable.

After all, you’re dealing with a whole group of people who are pretty darn smart, intellectually, street, or otherwise.  Not only that, but they are all of them professionals in their field.  Smart, professional people tend to react reasonably in crisis situations, and so has Team Seven.  In such circumstances, there’s no meaningful opportunity to show off your colorful personality.  So even though there are obvious differences between Amanda Waller and Cole Cash, you don’t read this issue and instantly recognize a totally Waller or Cash “moment.”