Phantom Lady #4 – Review

By: Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray (story), Cat Staggs (pencils), Tom Derenick (inks), Jason Wright (colors)

The Story: How do superheroes vent their sexual frustration?  By taking down mob bosses.

The Review: On the second day of my Property class, my professor told me that once we got more familiarity with the law, we’ll start seeing pop-up balloons, visible only to us, appear everywhere we go.  We’ll see a stalled car preventing someone from backing out of their parking space and a balloon will pop up: “False Imprisonment?”  A homeless person will squat on an empty lot: “Adverse Possession?”  That kind of thing.

I had one of those pop-up balloons reading this issue.  When Jen suggests that instead of risking lives (theirs and those of others) by amateurish vigilantism, they simply sneak into the Benders’ HQ and gather incriminating evidence, Dane protests, “None of that stuff would be admissible in court.”  Actually, it would, I believe (and if I’m wrong, that bodes ill for my prospects at passing my Criminal Procedure final today).  As far as I know, the Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure would not apply to a private citizen, rather than a government official, who gathers incriminating evidence against a person.  But then, would you consider Dane and Jen as agents of the government?

Phantom Lady #3 – Review

By: Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti (story), Cat Staggs (pencils), Tom Derenick (inks), Jason Wright (colors)

The Story: They may be fighting zombies, but at least they’re doing it on a yacht.

The Review: For the Walking Dead fans, what I’m about to say is akin to blasphemy, but I’m getting pretty sick of zombies or any of their facsimiles.  I don’t know what has suddenly propelled them into the popular zeitgeist, but whether they’re your traditional zombies in The Walking Dead or The New Deadwardians, or Black Lanterns and Third Army drones in Green Lantern, watching mindless, unkillable beings infect others has gotten quite tiresome.

Which is why the appearance of zombies in this issue, even temporary ones, drew a groan from me.  Funerella (still a horrible name) already has plenty of formidable powers to her credit, including accelerated molecular degradation and, apparently, imperviousness to being killed.  The ability to make lumbering undead from scratch just seems like a cheap way to generate distractions for Dane and Jen.  The fact that the zombies return to normal upon some unspecified circumstance makes you look at our heroes’ killing them in a more questionable light.

Phantom Lady #2 – Review

By: Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti (story), Cat Staggs (pencils), Tom Derenick (inks), Jason Wright (colors)

The Story: Doll Man teaches Phantom Lady that size really doesn’t matter—sometimes.

The Review: Anyone who’s followed this blog long enough knows I have developed certain prejudices—let’s not call them grudges—against certain writers and artists.  Some of them may be more deserved than others, but generally, I feel I make a good case for my hang-ups.  At times, though, I find it hard to reconcile my dislike for the Bedards and Levitzes of the world while still following along with the Grays and Palmiottis.

If I had to explain myself, I’d say one thing Gray-Palmiotti have over the creators I’ve dismissed is a source of ideas that still seems as if it has some juice left.  I’m not so sure that applies to the series at hand, however.  Without the superpowers, the story we have basically reduces down to your usual personal vendetta against the evil collective.

Phantom Lady #1 – Review

By: Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti (story), Cat Staggs (pencils), Tom Derenick (inks), Jason Wright (colors)

The Story: Now you see her, now you don’t.

The Review: Against all odds, the Freedom Fighters keep coming back to the DCU, no matter how many times you might believe the door has shut on their antiquated patriotism.  They do have a certain campiness I find endearing, and Gray-Palmiotti play up to that quality in a big way.  Maybe that’s why they’ve been at the head of each Freedom Fighters revival, though so far, none has resulted in the big comeback the team would hope for.

If there’s any Fighter who can strike it big on her own, it will have to be Phantom Lady.  True, she’s earned most of her popularity as a sex bomb, but that doesn’t take away the fact that she’s the most recognizable of all her teammates.  Gray-Palmiotti, perhaps taking the relaunched DC a little too much like a blank slate, give her a complete makeover in this mini, much as they did with the Ray some months earlier, and the results are almost nearly as uneven.

Birds of Prey #15 – Review

By: Marc Andreyko (writer), Billy Tucci & Adriana Melo (pencillers), JP Mayer & Eber Ferreira (inkers), Nei Ruffino (colorist)

The Story: They just can’t get him out of their heads.

The Review: Simone brings such a strong, distinctive voice to her writing, and such a high level of craft, that you find it hard to swallow anyone else’s work once she departs from a project.  This seems especially true with the Birds of Prey, her first high-profile title for DC, one still making her reputation to this day.  Still, Andreyko seemed a good candidate for the job; he has plenty experience writing strong superheroines from his formidable Manhunter ongoing.

So why do the Birds sound so uncharacteristically fraught?  Oracle snaps, “I’m doing everything I can here, Manhunter!”  Kate’s professional response?  “Well then do something else!”  These women have gone through some pretty harrowing experiences (and in fact, the arc just before this had a particularly grisly one), so their testiness in this issue seems a tad forced.  Sure, two of their own are in danger, but again, nothing new there (the previous arc also had that plotline).

This may have nothing to do with the fact that Andreyko’s a man, but you feel more aware of the Birds’ gender this issue.  Their banter has an unnaturally flirty, Sex in the City quality that has almost nothing to do with their personalities or types: “Hey, big guy!  Can we play, too?”  “Oh, and a wordsmith, too?  Are you single?”  “S’OK, handsome.  I like it rough.”  These lines come in stark contrast to the textured, dimensional dialogue these ladies usually come equipped with.

Birds of Prey #14 – Review

By: Marc Andreyko (writer), Billy Tucci & Adriana Melo (pencillers), Billy Tucci & JP Mayer (inker), Nei Ruffino (colorist)

The Story: These dames aren’t here to mess around—they’re out to kick Nazi butt!

The Review: One of DC’s greatest strengths is its long, incredible history, especially its rich beginnings.  Once you add up all the properties DC has assumed from other publishers over the years, you’re looking at a rather inspiring cast of legacy characters, some of whom continue to operate today, either in an elder statesman status like much of the Justice Society, or with younger generations taking up their names and icons.  Call me hopelessly sentimental, but I think that’s nothing short of marvelous.

Besides our usual flock of Birds (plus guest Manhunter), we also get to see in action Golden Age bombshells Dinah Drake (the original Black Canary) and Sandra Knight (the first Phantom Lady), with Lady Blackhawk an anachronistic link between the two generations.   Considering the tremendous credentials of all these ladies, we have evidence that from the start, DC has been a pretty good place for heroic women.

The story splits between the past and present, but the plot is nonetheless light and predictable: long-thought-finished antagonists rising again to haunt his former defeaters.  Andreyko goes for a jingoistic, rah-rah America tone (“Guns are fer [sic] grownups, Hitler youth!”) as he sends the pre-Nixon heroines into Argentina to recover a mad-scientist Nazi.  They encounter resistance in a swarm of blond-haired, blue-eyed adolescents, a kind of Aryan Children of the Corn.

Freedom Fighters #9 – Review

By: Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti (writers), Travis Moore (penciller), Trevor Scott (inker), Allen Passalqua (colorist)

The Story: Well, that gives new meaning to “blow up” doll.

The Review: There’s no point in naming names, but when you consider the pretty significant number of terrible titles on the stands out there, you have to wonder at the cancellation of Freedom Fighters less than a year after it launched.  It may have been a hard sell from the start, but it really can’t be considered on the same quality level as the series that deliver—in fact, will continue to deliver soul-sucking reads month after month.

Considering the open-ended finale to this issue, Gray-Palmiotti may have planned the Fighters’ disbandment all along, and if that’s true, this should have been the opening story arc.  The whole plot with the Arcadians took way too long and tried way too hard to give an epic feel, but never really gave a sense of danger or a cohesive tone to the series.

This issue immediately opens with a high-stakes conflict for the group: newly decommissioned, how will they fight the good fight now?  It seems the question has lit a fire under the team, as they act way more gung-ho and unified than they did the last eight issues.  It’s good to see them backing each other up, especially where Human Bomb’s more fragile status is concerned.  Their interactions have a comfortable familiarity that’s been missing for a while now.

Another missing element has been character growth (beyond Stormy and Black Condor shacking up, I mean), and this issue dives well into that.  Black Condor using his unemployment period to tackle crime in his reservation not only fleshes out his background and offers some fun moments (how dumb do you have to be to make locker room talk about your captor’s girlfriend in front of him?), it also makes a fitting political statement about his culture—without banging it over your head with nonsensical diatribes, Gray-Palmiotti’s preferred method of opinionating.

Freedom Fighters #8 – Review

By: Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti (writers), Travis Moore (penciller), Trevor Scott (inker), Allen Passalaqua (colorist)

The Story: What does the spirit of America do when it’s angry?  It punches you in the face.

The Review: By all accounts, this is the third series (the first two being minis) featuring the Freedom Fighters and written by the Gray-Palmiotti team.  The minis both had the problem of starting strong, then having the story fall part toward the end.  You’d think with that kind of experience, Gray-Palmiotti would have a firm handle on executing their plotting by now.

As it turns out though, this first story arc winds down just as anticlimactically.

Uncle Sam’s reappearance should have heralded the team getting its act together and taking down the Jester in all-American style.  Instead, his teammates spend the issue KO’ed while Uncle Sam has to finish the job himself.  And despite being a metaphysical concept come to supernatural life, Sam doesn’t have much in the way of skills and powers except a terrific right hook.  It makes for a fairly repetitive fight sequence, that’s for sure.

It doesn’t help Uncle Sam and Jester punctuate their punches with babble about American ideology and politics.  Let’s face it—very few people in general have a firm grasp on political science or the implications of their political beliefs.  If I may be so bold to say it, comic-book writers and readers probably have even less.  Can comics be a medium for political discourse?  Sure.  Superhero comics, not so much—check out Law and the Multiverse for just some of the wacky ways superheroes fly in the face our already jittery laws.

Freedom Fighters #7 – Review

By: Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti (writers), Travis Moore (penciller), Walden Wong (inker), Allen Passalqua (colorist)

The Story: By the power of Paul Revere’s lantern, General Sherman’s sword, and the Arcadians’ helmet of war, I summon the spirit of America!

The Review: The sad truth is cancellations never have a direct relationship to the title’s quality.  Even if an ongoing series is awful, as long as it brings in good money, it’ll survive.  Cancellations only happen when a title doesn’t sell, whether it’s so infamously terrible, hardly anyone can stand it; so flavor-specific, its audience isn’t enough to support it; or so underexposed, it never got on its feet to start with.

Freedom Fighters honestly falls in the middle category.  As a title that enthusiastically embraces its “Rah-rah-America!” nature, it winds up very niche.  We live in an era in which most people aren’t much interested in everyday patriotism except for special occasions.  Comic book readers, being increasingly older, more intellectual individuals, are even less likely to take nationalism seriously, so this title can’t help but come across endearingly sincere, but inescapably silly.

Gray-Palmiotti also make their work harder by attempting to bring in actual politics to the story, which always risks messiness.  The more experience you have in real politics, the more you realize that it’s way more complex and rich than the divide between liberals and conservatives, security versus democracy, which gets played up here.  Being so oversimplified damages the title’s integrity: thoughtful readers dismiss it, naïve readers get misled by it.

Freedom Fighters #6 – Review

By: Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti (writers), Travis Moore (penciller), Trevor Scott (inker), Rob Schwager (colorist)

The Story: As it turns out, the Freedom Fighters discover, there may be some truth to the whole mutant sewer creatures thing.

The Review: With most superhero teams, writers claim from time to time that such-and-such character is the “heart” of the team—usually a few weeks before killing them off.  After the immediate shock and grief is over, the team usually ends up functioning much like it did before.  But Uncle Sam has been a staple of the Freedom Fighters for so long he truly their emotional center.  You really can’t imagine the team without that tall, lanky, bearded Yankee on their side.

So it’s been interesting seeing Gray and Palmiotti handle Uncle Sam’s absence from the Fighters.  The impact of his “death” kind of got lost at first, what with the team being forced to continue the mission at hand without him.  But with every issue, the team has lost direction, even under the capable leadership of Miss America, until now you’re just longing for Uncle Sam to come back and make everything all right somehow.

It’s great that Gray-Palmiotti are bringing back some of the sticky issues from their original Freedom Fighters miniseries.  After all, the team was formed by some abominably shady forces and for a time operated without much deference to justice or mercy.  Under Uncle Sam’s reformation, they’ve slowly made their way back to respectability, but their actions toward the Jailbreakers this issue show that they’re toeing the line to being ruthless operatives again.

The confrontation between Phantom Lady and Miss America hits all the right points, but there’s some confusion as to who’s to blame for what went down.  Looking back at those earlier scenes, it won’t occur to you Joan doesn’t try her best to be accommodating to their enemies.  In fact, since Stormy’s the one teleporting people to safety, it seems she’d be more responsible for whatever breach of integrity they might have made.  This vilifying of Miss America—especially her coercive attitude toward Doll Man at the end—just comes off a little sudden and forced.

Freedom Fighters #4 – Review

By: Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti (writers), Travis Moore (artist), Trevor Scott (inker), Rob Schwager (colorist)

The Story: While the Freedom Fighters minus Uncle Sam home in on the second artifact, they’re drawn into a prison break in a secret facility full of twisted experiments, which may be sanctioned by the government the Fighters work for.  Meanwhile, the history behind the mysterious Arcadians becomes clearer as a connection to the original Freedom Fighters is revealed.  Regurgitated human arms, babies that strangle you, and crime-fighting jesters—this issue has it all!

The Review: Never let it be said that Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti don’t deliver enough story for your buck.  Their previous work on Freedom Fighters and Power Girl demonstrated their knack for energetic writing.  Every page packs loads of action and dialogue; banter and exposition mix freely.  It’s got all the makings of a summer action blockbuster—the issue literally ends on an explosion.  But stepping back from the excitement, it just seems the two-man writing team is flinging all their ideas at the reader, hoping at least one will stick.  Regretfully, the pace of the series is causing some of those ideas to be sloppily thrown.

Gray and Palmiotti have smartly gone the strategy of spicing up the lead plotline (the Freedom Fighters’ quest for artifacts demanded by the hostage-taking secret society, the Arcadians) by allowing the team to run into a variety of opponents they can brawl with on their way to the final confrontation.  This is great; it’s exactly the course that successful sci-fi/fantasy shows have followed for years.  Think Buffy facing off baddies-of-the-week for the whole first season before her showdown with the Master.

Baddies-of-the-week are fine when they’ve got about an hour to demonstrate their dastardly deeds and build up a rep with the audience.  Temp baddies seem a lot less credible when they’re defeated in two issues, a problem with the Four Corners, the Fighters’ first major opponents.  Their reputation as elemental spirits requiring thousands of ancient Native American shamans to defeat is rendered moot when all they have time to do is bust up a small desert town before Phantom Lady single-handedly shreds them apart.  In comparison to the Four Corners’ lofty origins, this issue’s Jailbreakers, a group of human experiments gone wrong, seem like they’ll take even less time for the Fighters (or Phantom Lady by herself) to clean up.