Writer Mark Waid is almost always a fun and entertaining read and this title has been a revelation in the four years it has been out. This story seems to have some elements that fit the quality of this book. Seeing how the fused heroes work together while the meshed villain minds sometimes are fighting each other is a good insight into the characters. Seeing how our heroes deal with their secret identities revealed also has some meat on the bone to delve into. (Indeed, the Lois scene in this book is my favorite.) And perhaps this characterization deep dive was the impetus for this story. But the plot, with the Absorbascon as a deus ex machina becoming both a receiver and a transmitter that needs to be shut down then saved then reverted seemed too big to wrap up. This was a three parter! But honestly, I don't know if a longer version of this story would make the ending more palatable.
Adrian Gutierrez gets to really stretch in this arc with crazy action, a large cast of cameos, and some emotional beats. It is a rapid fire book going from magical battles to quiet apartment conversations to fistfights. That is a lot for one tiny issue. It must be hard to step into Dan Mora's shoes but I have come to really like Gutierrez's style on this book. There is an energy here that works.
On to the book.
As I said, Joker and Lex are of one body but two minds. Here, rather than head to Lex's posh secret lair, the Joker takes them to an abandoned mental hospital to hole up.
Last issue, Merger transmitted Batman and Superman's secret identities to the world's population.
The only hope is to reobtain the Absorbascon and try to revert all the madness that has come out of the Joker/Lex combo.
But the Absorbascon has also let the villains learn everything ... including magic from Dr. Fate and Zatanna. They cast a holding spell on the heroes and teleport away.
Now I might quibble saying knowing magic isn't the same as performing it. Knowing how a surgery is done doesn't mean you should cut someone open. But maybe the Absorbascon doesn't just transmit knowledge but also ability.
I did chuckle at the 'Alakahoobastank' spell word. Do people even remember 'The Reason' by Hoobastank?
Lex, always craving more, wants to open up the Absorbascon to everyone on Earth, flooding them with knowledge. I love how Lex describes his desire to learn more and be the ultimate intelligence as 'a Wednesday'. He always wants more.
The heroes head to Lois' apartment to talk about the 'Clark is Superman' reveal.
Superman says he has never lied because few people actually ask him outright if he is Clark or vice versa. And if they do, he obfuscates or finds a way to escape. This seemed to be a little repudiation of Brian Michael Bendis' story of the reveal where Superman's reason was he no longer wanted to lie.
I love this moment of how he needed Clark so he wouldn't be lonely. That dip of the head speaks so much. The next line of how he has imagined telling Lois a thousand times is also fantastic.
But it still stings. Lois says she feels sorry for Superman about what is going to come out of this reveal. She doesn't seem too happy.
Gutierrez sells all the pathos here.
Our villains remain at internal odds though.
While the Absorbascon is absorbing knowledge and sending to Merger, the Joker has also had it become more of a scavenger. The knowledge it is sharing is now stolen.
No one knows how to do anything anymore.
It just seems like too much. How the heck does Merger know how to change Thanagarian tech so much that it is a receiver, a transmitter, and now a robber of knowledge.
And how the heck is it all going to go way in less than half an issue.
We finally get an old-fashioned throwdown between the heroes and villains and Merger gets the upper hand. And then Joker/Lex learns all the secret identities.
I mean, if the world's populations are now idiots (including the heroes because we see Green Arrow forgets how to shoot a bow) does that even matter?
I thought the heroes were being beaten up a little too easily but it was all a rope-a-dope ploy to let the Atom fly in and remove the Absorbascon.
But even this makes me rub my chin. Thank goodness the Atom wasn't impacted by the brain drain. If Green Arrow forgets how to shoot and doctors forget how to operate and people forget to run away from tornados, why does the Atom remain untouched, remembering how to use his fancy tech and attack?
Don't think about it too much.
With the Absorbascon off Merger's head, suddenly everything is open to be fixed. So to save the world, they needed to knock off the villain's hat. Hmm ...
Lex and Joker and separated.
Batman and Superman are also separated and remain solid (remember they were fused because they were each only partially tangible).
Somehow the Fusion body remains around. Certainly worth a 'huh' and I wonder if this is a set-up for a future story.
But so much is hand-waved.
Hawkman literally says the genies are back in the bottles. So ...
Lex and Joker separated. Batman and Superman separated and solid. Knowledge given back to people who were drained. Secret identities back to being secret (even if we see people putting stuff on the internet about them). Everything is just 'fixed'.
I suppose I just need to say 'comic book science' and get over it. But it feels like this was a couple of good ideas that a story was built around, went a bit too far, and just wrapped up.
There are a lot of good nuggets here. But when the climax falls flat it ended with a whimper not a bang.
Overall grade: C
No comments:
Post a Comment