As has been the case with this book, we are basically following three different subplots as it winds through this horrific world. Batgirl is leading an attack squad into Gotham to kill Dick. Ollie is trying to free people from a blood farm in Smallville. And Steel is doing his best to get Supergirl to Australia hoping to get her above the clouds and into the sun.
Writers James Tynion IV and Matthew Rosenberg keep the book plugging along, switching back and forth from one plot to the other and keeping them all moving forward. There are some questionable plot points here, things which don't make much sense even in the context of a comic book world. But for the most part, it is enjoyable. I keep hoping we'll get something heroic out of Supergirl before the book ends. And I have enjoyed the insanity of Harley Quinn here.
The art by Otto Schmidt is at his most stylized and wild. It crackles along very well. For me, the Gotham pages work the best for his look. I have said before that I'd buy a Batgirl or Birds of Prey book by him.
I do like the Kara The Vampire Slayer variant cover by Nathan Szerdy.
On to the book.
Vampire Damian has promised to lead Batgirl, Black Canary, Harley Quinn, and Frankenstein into Gotham. He leads a boat into a cave successfully.
There is a point where Black Adam sees this group and tries to stop them but is stopped by a flying Batwoman who seems solar powered or flame powered? It says I should be reading DC Vs. Vampires All Out War to understand. But I'm not. Wish I got an explanation.
Inside, they run into a vampiric Punchline.
She is running some criminal underground in Gotham. She doesn't work for Dick Grayson. Instead she just trades goods. So she isn't against this team being there. But she might be able to get more from them in trade.
Punchline throws them into cells.
I like the face-off between Harley and Punchline, especially Harley saying Punchline isn't original. So say we all!
That said, here is a plot point I did really like.
Last issue, Ollie wiped out a bunch of vampires in Smallville so he could get Hawkman out of hiding.
The two don't fight but instead chat. Hawkman wants Ollie to convince to humans to stop resisting. Ollie wants Hawkman to remember who he is and release the humans. It is clear neither will acquiesce to the other.
So why would Hawkman leave Ollie alive? Why not just kill him?
Leaving potential heroes alive seems pretty silly in a world of vampires. I don't understand.
It seemed last issue that Supergirl drowned. But it turns out that the water in her lungs was Jayna. Once rescued by Steel, Jayna exited.
I'd love for Kara to be more than a damsel in distress in this book. I do hope we get to see her be a savior of some sort.
Turns out Ollie carried a seed with him. With a little moisture (Grifter's urine) it sprouts into Swamp Thing.
Again, I don't know if I quite understand this. Wouldn't Swampy be pretty weakened by a world cloaked in darkness? Wouldn't the plants be dying? Would he really need water to grow into this?
Maybe I missed some exposition in the first 6 issues.
But again, it shows some lack of forward thinking by Hawkman. He should've killed Ollie!
In another, funny bit, Harley is able to break out of her cell by putting her costume on a bunch of blankets and a broom. It leads to naked Harley trying to break out her friends. Even the line about how the imprisonment was torture even though it was only two hours is hilarious.
It turns out Punchline lets them go because they did her a service, killing Two-Face.
Punchline running vampire organized crime is sort of a thought-provoking idea.
At last, our Australian bound team makes it Down Under.
And here is their goal. A rocket.
Will we ever see Supergirl bathing in yellow sun? Powered?
I can only hope she gets to do something!
And then in yet another nice turn of events, we see that Babs has been planning this incursion all along. She has agents of the Bat-family in Gotham.
More than that, she has smuggled in UV light weapons. The Bat-signal is a vampire killing laser cannon. Now that is a pretty cool idea. And the other Bat-heroes are all geared up too.
I like seeing all the humans still there and ready to fight. Glad Huntress is still on the board.
This is a guilty treat. But sort of like cotton candy. Insubstantial. But enjoyable.
There is a nice mix of nonsense and good ideas here. And the art is delightful.
Overall grade; A solid B
8 comments:
The one that kills Black Adam is Starfire, who was rescued in the other series I believe.
Thanks for info! I'll have to reread!
My favorite “hate read” lurches towards its inevitable incomprehensible climax…and don’t worry Anj I have been faithfully reading DC vs Vampires All Out War and I have no idea what is going on, to the point where I’ve a cash offer on Youtube to anyone who can explain even the last issue to me. The offer is in Canadian coinage :)
I don’t have much hope for Supergirl in this one, she is being damseled out in every issue as well as being out hero’d by Babs and the now inevitable Harley Quinn. Ya get the impression that the writers regard all kryptonians as something that must sidelined, not celebrated or even used effectively?
BTW if Babs Gordon can build UV emitters that can disintegrate vampires why couldn’t she build a solar generator to repower Supergirl? Because what? that Makes The House of El more important than the Bat Family? Yeah thats it believe me.
JF
I'm reading All-Out War too, and can't wait for it to end. It's an exhausting read. It would help if the art weren't brutally difficult to comprehend.
So I'm afraid I can't help out for any amount of money in any currency!
Apparently Starfire's energy blast from above engulfs Black Adam in a glowing explosive egg, and then she flies off trailed by streams of yellow and pink gift wrapping ribbon.
After the misdirect of Batwoman, you'd think there would be even a single panel that actually named Starfire, or showed her clearly.
Maybe Schmidt thinks the panel with her leaving IS clear, in which case he's spending too much time drawing panels at 10-times magnification on his tablet and not thinking about printed comic books. She is barely visible flying away in a backstroke position, and apparently she has no right hand (out of which is flowing all the gift wrap), and is carrying a pink pig inside a white balloon with her left hand. As one does.
(I liked Schmidt's work much better earlier in the series.)
T.N.
I thought Starfire was dead? Didn’t Grayson consume her when she refused to become a campire?
Wish there was a bit more Supergirl in this one, but glad to see she made it and with a little Wonder Twin help. I'm not sure Kara's been a 'damsel' so much in this series, but she's the big chance they have to really turn things around. And since it seems were getting some victories in this one, awesome on Batgirl to go on the offensive there with the Bat Allies, I think Kara having a big damn hero moment to help save the world is coming....I hope (cross fingers).
Thanks for all the comments.
Good point about Babs hoarding life saving tech in Gotham. I bet Steel would have liked a UV gun on his trip with Kara.
At least I was on target in thinking it was Batwoman (even if Starfire) but some sort of clue in this book would have been helpful.
I keep hoping Kara gets a heroic moment. But more and more I keep thinking that she is going to crash that rocket in some suicidal sacrifice than actually have powers.
We'll see.
And Kamikazi-ing herself would be a high end heroic end, more than likely she’ll just end up being jobbed out to Beppo the Vampire Super Monkey or some damn thing…poor Supergirl she was born on the wrong planet, if she’d a been a habitue of the Batcave she’d a conquered the multiverse by now.
And yeah still mad at Babs for hoarding her U/V Tech…ghod knows hundreds of other dead or vamped heroes could have used it…
JF
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