[Editor’s note: This review may contain spoilers.]
Writer: Scott Lobdell
Artist: Dexter Soy
Inker: Veronica Gandini
Summary
Jason and the team are heading to Qurac on a hunch that the Bow of Ra is there. Artemis is pretty upset because she feels she has failed her sisters by not protecting the Bow. Jason is pretty upset because Qurac is where he was beaten and killed by the Joker. Bizarro is not upset at all. He is carrying the team in a broken airplane, literally whistling while he works. There are flashbacks. There is action. There is blood. There am bad grammar.
Positives
You know some artists and some characters just fit? “Jim Lee and Batman” comes to mind. “Liefeld and Hawk and Dove” does too. Well, Dexter Soy has Bizarro nailed. Ever since Bizarro burst into this comic, Soy has been owning it. Everything he does is shady and a bit dirty, which is perfect for not just Bizarro, but the whole book. However, take a look at page one. It is a huge, stand alone page of Bizarro holding a plane in one hand. Just above his right hand, you can see the cracks in the plane. You can see the concentration on this Clone/man/child’s face as he sets his course. His costume seems faded in places so that it matches perfectly with his pasty skin. Honestly. Just look:
You know how some writers and some characters just fit? “Gail Simone and Batgirl” comes to mind. “Sam Humphries and Jessica Cruz” does as well. Well, no one should ever be allowed to write for Jason Todd except for Scott Lobdell. Pain, agony, literal rebirth, betrayal and yet, he is funny. When Judd Winick wrote “Under the Red Hood,” Jason was a psycho killer who was a bit more like the man who killed him than the man who trained him. That stuff is still here with Lobdell, but he finds his humanity too. This story arc is not about Jason, but his humanity comes through. It is just brilliant.
Want some praise for the third member of our team? It is her story after all. Here is some Artemis #Realtalk: “Humans, man in particular–can’t be trusted with the destructive power of the sun.” Indeed Red Her…indeed.
Negative
The only knock on this book is that because it is only a monthly, we need to be reminded of what happened last issue. I get it and I do not fault Lobdell, it is just, I am anxiously awaiting new storylines so I do not want to look back, I want to move the story forward.
Verdict
This book keeps getting better. I need more stars than 5. I love where this is headed and I never want it to end.
