First Impressions: Supreme #64

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Supreme #64 
Written by Erik Larsen
Art by Erik Larsen & Cory Hamscher
Image Comics


Review by Frankie Rodriguez


INTRODUCTION

   Supreme, for all intents, purposes, started out as an allegory and even older copy of Superman. Under Rob Liefield's Extreme Studios, Supreme became something far different than the Man of Steel ever did. He had all the powers. He had a kind of weakness similar. But Supreme was kinda of  .. .well, a douchebag at first. He was arrogant. He was very blunt. And he had no problems proving how powerful he was. And then things changed. Supreme had gotten  younger some how. And then ... Alan Moore arrived. And he turned the Superman allegory on its ear.

  Moore's legendary run was cut short by one ... ONE issue ... until now. Extreme Studios is back with a vengeance as they brought back Prophet, Bloodstrike, Glory and more in their relaunch. And one of the things they did was bring back Supreme with Erik Larsen and Cory Hamscher doing art for the now FINAL Alan Moore issue. Now, we start with Erik Larsen's reign with the character. And with dozens of Supremes out there ... what will he do now?


FLIPPING THROUGH:

   So yeah. This issue starts with Supreme ... multitudes of them ... being attacked by multitudes of his arch nemesis, Darius Dax. And this is pretty insane. Kind of working as an allegory for continuity while fixing it, we find that the Supreme's are getting slaughtered by the Darius Dax's; with the original Darius Dax leading the charge. And while a LOT is happening this issue, the ending ties up things extremely well . .. with the return of the ORIGINAL Supreme that we have not seen in years!

   With the Original Supreme's return, he takes care of most of the Daxes and even the other Supremes (oh, I am sooooooooo not spoiling that). And we see everything ... different kinds of Daxes ... including a duck Dax to a Mouse and Lion Supremes.


WRITING:

    I have to applaud Erik Larsen. He inherited one heck of a big, convoluted mess. A very, very big mess. And yet, he was able to keep the readers engaged on the Supreme Al Moore established long enough to give him a proper send off while bringing us another Supreme with a cleaner slate. Larsen, in his first issue of Supreme, actually respected enough of the writer's work before to spend the issue closing out that danging plotline and bring it to a satisfying conclusion; while opening up possibilities for a brand new beginning. THAT is GREAT writing.

   It was great seeing how the different Daxes were different yet similar in their own way. The fact that Diana had an evil alternate was also interesting and how they were both utilized. Still, Larsen made the issue work, no matter how chaotic the issue looked. That seems to be the downside of this issue. While it is chaotic, brand new readers might be scratching their head if they did not pick up the previous issue.Still, Strong characterizations while honoring what was past and setting up a new beginning in one issue. Very well done Mr. Larsen.


ART:

   Larsen and Cory Hamscher did a great job illustrating this issue. While the style is more classic cartoony with some finishes, it still worked well. It was appealing cause it was a style you don't see too often in the Big Two anymore. Yet, with the multitudes of kinds of characters and the carnage that ensued (Seriously, someone got their head punched off and another person was blasted through their chest) these two made it work and work well..

   There was enough detail to make the characters feel threatening when they needed to be but funny when they were supposed to be funny . The inking and finishes were nice and clean. The colors helped the issue out well. And while some panels may seem lazy due to background panels, all those panels without backgrounds actually let's you focus on the event that is happening. Good move by Larsen and Hamscher.

OVERALL IMPRESSION:

    The only thing that really hurts this issue is the lack of knowledge about Supreme but that all changes by  the end of it thanks to Larsen. It is brutal yet fun. And That is something that I find that I enjoy about comics like this and Invincible. That they are brutal, make statements about comics or things in life yet still be entertaining.

    As gruesome and gory as this issue was at times, there was definitely that signaling that this was an end to an era and a beginning of a whole new one. A clean slate for Larsen to build on. That fact that he took the time to do this was great and shows respect. The over all chaos might put off readers but I would still suggest getting this issue cause it closes out Moore's run nicely while opening up what Larsen can (and will) do next.

 Supreme # 64 gets a 4 out of 5. Very strong issue. Fun. Might be a little confusing if you are new but still a fun time to be had by all.

  

NEWS EDITION # 13 - NYCC COVERAGE: EXTREME STUDIOS RETURNS, SHAOLIN COWBOY, THE NEW SECRET AVENGERS TEAMS, THE DARKNESS WITHIN HINE & HAUN, ASPEN 1st ONGOING AND CURSE OF SHAZAM

This week's news edition breaks down the news we've heard this past weekend at the NYCC. And boy there are some BIG announcements.


EXTREME STUDIOS COMEBACK IN 2012 WITH  SEELEY, MCLAUGHLIN & MOORE (& MORE)


     Rob Liefield mentioned this some time ago: that Extreme Studios was going to come back to Image. Yet, there were little to no details as to which titles and who would be attached. Well, this past weekend at the New York Comic Con, we got those answers . . . in spades. Extreme Studios will be bringing back a slew of their old titles; not only bring them back with new creative teams and stories but actually continuing on with their original numbering. Liefield went on about how excited he is about Extreme Studios coming back alongside Image mainstay, Eric Stephenson as they gave a slew of titles to hit sleeves in early 2012, just in time for Image's 20th Birthday.
     The following are the titles that will be surfacing next year with their creative teams and boy . . . the star power with these titles will ASTOUND you.
 
  Prophet will return this January with issue #21, being the first title brought back from Extreme Studios. Yet, it will be written by Brandon Graham, the creator and writer for hit King City. Art duties will be handled by Simon Roy. Liefield went on to say that this series will be the one with the biggest change, saying that John Prophet has now woken up to a harsher new reality.

 Glory is next as the female powerhouse gets new life in with a tweaked origin and will be written by Joe Keantinge, known for his work in the anthology "Popgun" with art by Ross Campbell.

Bloodstrike gets back to its glorious, goriest duties when the team returns compliments of fan favorite writer Tim Seeley and art by Franchesco Gaston. And Seeley will be making sure this team is as dangerous as ever.

Youngblood, the flagship title of Image & Extreme Studios back in the 90s, returns with a vengeance with Youngblood #71. Why #71? According to Liefield, the previous Youngblood minis will now count as one volume instead of Volume 2 and so forth and Liefield promises that the 75th issue of Youngblood will be full of excitement and surprises. Yet, what fans will really drop their mouths at are the creative team for Youngblood . . . art by Jon Malin (whose done work with Liefield before in NitroGen & worked on New Warriors and Cable/Deadpoo) and writer John McLaughlin (Writer of the Academy Award Winning movie Black Swan!). Liefield stated that McLaughlin has returned Youngblood to a more serious government group yet filled with new ideas and concepts including  . . . a sex change for Proton?!

And Finally, Supreme, the ultimate super man of Extreme Studios, will return with issue #57.And for the ride .. . we have artist and Image founding member Erik Larsen and written by the legendary Alan Moore. Yes, the final scripts of Alan Moore during his landmark run with his character will finally reach its conclusion as Liefield,  Stephenson and Kirkman were able to convince Larsen to work on finish the work that Alan Moore began. And once those scripts are done, Larsen will stay on as writer and will have art by Cory Hamscher; and Larsen will tie up the visions of the arrogant superman that first appeared alongside Moore's retro version once they are done the Moore Scripts.

Extreme Studios seems to be aggressively coming back into the comic world. Let's see how the fans will respond. We will find out as Extreme Studios returns starting this January.


DARK HORSE BRINGS BACK SHAOLIN COWBOY


 Geof Darrow's original Shaolin Cowboy featured the main character in a world of violence of his own making in a world where yesterday, today and tomorrow collide. And it was under an independent press which had printed it 5 years ago. Now Dark Horse and Darrow bring back Shaolin Cowboy for new adventures in 2012.


SECRET AVENGERS' FACE LIFT  AS REMENDER & HARDMAN ENTER

   Rick Remender has become one of the go to guys in Marvel when it comes to writing covert ops groups within the Marvel Universe. Holding such acclaim with his work on Venom and Uncanny X-Force, he will now embark in a new adventure; as he and artist Gabriel Hardman (known for his recent work on the Hulk) will unite to take the reigns of Secret Avengers after Ellis's run is done.
  Remender comes in with issue 21.1 issue, with art by Patrick Zicher, as Captain America Steve Rogers has a talk with Hawkeye. And that starts the many changes with the group as Hawkeye becomes the new leader of the Secret Avengers, personally passed command from Cap. Remender comments on Hawkeye's entrance to the group:

"I think what you've got in Hawkeye, because of his childhood, is somebody who is roguish and a little unpredictable. He's got a real sense of responsibility and a solid ethical compass, but he's also willing to go to lengths that maybe Steve Rogers isn't. That's one of the reasons that Steve chose and one of the reasons that we chose him for this book. Now they're operating with a no kill rule, but we're going to put that to the test. For me there needs to be a difference between 'X-Force' and 'Secret Avengers.' This is the brighter, shinier covert operations team whereas I think 'X-Force' is a little dirtier. The fun of it is that you've got to cook up threats of such a grand scale that haven't yet boiled over and must be dealt with before they do. They're dealing with dire straits and something that they're potentially in over their heads with, but on top of that they must maintain their anonymity. They can't be seen so the team is still a secret to the villains of the world.


And Hawkeye isn't the only new edition as the team goes through a line up change. While Beast, Black Widow and Valkyrie are all staying, the team gets other new members such as Giant Man Hank Pym; who is also running the Avengers Academy . . .and first time Avenger, UK hero Captain Britian. Remender promises that Hawkeye will be dealing with issue with the UK hero as their personalities and backgrounds will clash. And promises that many of the fixtures in Captain Britain's life, such as Otherworld, Jamie Braddock and his twin sister Psylocke (who Remender writes in Uncanny X-Force) and connecting them into storylines for Secret Avengers while dealing with what its like being an Avenger.

And while Remender is well versed in Brain Braddock and his mythology, artist Gabriel Hardman is entering new territory as he commented:

Captain Britain is almost entirely new to me. I may have read a couple issues of 'Excalibur' in the '80s, but I don't think I've ever drawn him. It will be a challenge to find an angle on this character."

And Captain Britain as a character will not only be explored but Otherworld, the dimension Brian Braddock rules will also have major storyline implications in Secret Avengers. And thus having Captain Britain on the team will open unlimited possibities for stories for the covert team remarked Remender. Remender says that he is also picking up the plot line dropped from Uncanny X-Force 5.1, where Lady Deathstrike downloaded herself and how that connects to the first threat the new team faces, the mechanical beings known as the Descendants. After that, the team will face the emergence of an all new Masters of Evil and how they are connected to the Shadow Council.

Adding new concepts and visuals are just one of many reasons why Remender and Hardman are happy to be working together again; as Hardman states:

"I had a great time doing flashback sequences on the late lamented 'Doctor Voodoo' and working with Rick again was a big factor in me deciding to take this book. Anyone who's read his work knows he's full of huge, inventive ideas and his 'Secret Avengers' scripts are no exception."




With two jump on points, #21.1 or #22 of Secret Avengers is a perfect time to get a taste of the where this new Secret Avengers team is going and work from Remender and Hardman. Secret Avengers #21.1 will hit stores in January while Secret Avengers #22 hits stores in February.


VIDEO OF THE WEEK: 

Premiered this past weekend during NYCC . . . the upcoming DC Animated movie: Justice League DOOM.


HINE & HAUN TAKE OVER THE DARKNESS

   The Darkness seems to be enjoying a new surge of popularity again with the new game to be released and his roles in the Top Cow Universe. And as of issue #101, there will be a new creative coming in and taking on Jackie Estacado in the forms of writer David Hine and Jeremy Haun. The new creative team jumps in to bring The Darkness more in touch with both his horror and mobster roots.
   Hine commented on how the powers of The Darkness are mixed between that of Spawn and Green Lantern and will be testing those powers through out the story while testing visuals for Haun to render for the reader. Hine also commented on how he is using of the events of recent issues of The Darkness and Artifacts that will help him set up his new direction that starts in #101.
    Hine hinted at what he plans on doing:

"There are some fiendish twists coming, but I don't want to give any of them away, which leaves me with very little I can say specifically, except to say that I'll be taking Jackie in a very different direction to what has gone before. I think readers will be pleasantly surprised -- no scratch that -- there's nothing pleasant about what we have planned. In fact, I've been giving myself nightmares. I had one last week that had me waking up in a cold sweat and gave me the opening scene to the third issue of my first arc. It involves cats, and I apologize in advance to all the cat lovers out there. Honestly, I love cats. I have two of my own. But when a scene comes to you in a dream, you just have to go with it."

 Hine also hinted that an Eastern European Mob are trying to move in on Jackie's turf during his first arc; where Jackie is back to being a gangster himself running his own mob. And all this will be rendered by Haun as Hine stated that he wanted to make sure that a horror element was very much a part of the book. So, it will be a mix of mob crime dramas and horror in which Hine will drive the Darkness during his run; picking up on elements that current scribe, Phil Heister, will produce during the issues leading to #100.

The Darkness #101, written by David Hine with art by Jeremy Haun will hit stores in March 2012. .



JOHNS & FRANK ADD A CURSE OF SHAZAM TO JUSTICE LEAGUE

  The convention has definitely been filled with surprises and exciting announcements. This one is no different.  Starting with January's Justice League #5, there will be a back up story that will run through the ongoing dealing with Captain Marvel. Curse of Shazam will beginning its backup run on the Justice League book, running along side the Steel back up on Action Comics.
    Justice League scribe Geoff Johns works with Gary Frank again to give us a brand new rendition of Captain Marvel in this DCnU. Johns and Frank come with a fresh, new perspective as they give Captain Marvel and many of his long time characters a modern update . ..  including a new costume.

Frank commented on the look of Shazam:

"Both Geoff and I were keen that our costume should look different to the rest of the Justice League's costumes since it comes from a different place. We're still ironing it out but, whereas the other costumes feel very modern and cool, ours needs to feel timeless and, hopefully, cool. We are dealing with magic rather than tailoring, so this has to be in there somehow."

Another change that may stick is that the hero may longer be referred to as Captain Marvel . . . but as Shazam as many fans already use that name Shazam to differentiate him from Marvel's Captain Marvel; let alone the legal ramifications. Yet, we will not find out for sure till the back up premieres. And note, this project was finished after the recently finished but yet to be printed Batman: Earth One graphic novel, which will also hit stores in 2012 which Frank stated:

"I enjoy working with Geoff so much that he was always going to be my first choice as a collaborative partner. When I first suggested finding another project, it was in response to the fact that there was going to be such a long time before Batman[: Earth One] hit the shelves. I wanted to get another project going so that I would have something out there."


Justice League # 5 written by Geoff Johns with art by Jim Lee with the Curse of Shazam backup also written by Johns with art by Gary Frank will hit stores January 18th, 2011.


ASPEN'S FIRST ONGOING SERIES

  Aspen has been notorious for several things: books that seem to have a very dubious, sporadic schedule; a wide variety of books in their line; multiple miniseries starring their properties like Fathom and Soulfire; and finally, the founder being the late Michael Turner.
    Well, things are about to change in Aspen as it announced its first ongoing series this past weekend. With the success of their weekly, summer crossover event known as Hit List Agenda, Aspen fixed their scheduling conflicts. And now, they will unleash their popular property, Executive Assistant: Assassins, created by David Z. Wohl, in 2012.
   Executive Assistant: Assassins deals with women who take up roles as Assistants, Bodyguards and Assassins for their high-powered Chinese superiors. Oddly enough, it is not Wohl but Aspen EIC Vince Hernandez himself who will be scripting the ongoing comic. When asked to why this title being the first given ongoing status:

The Executive Assistant property has been great for us. David Wohl, Brad Foxhoven and Michael Turner created not only a wonderful first two volumes containing a rich storyline and a diverse cast of personalities, but also an entire world filled with possibilities for future stories and new characters. We felt it was time to tap into that and explore different takes on the concept.

Executive Assistant:  Assassins will allow for that with the ongoing format and the open-ended nature of it. For instance, there are several fan-favorite characters from the first two volumes and the crossover that didn’t get as much time in the sun as the primary cast, and this will be an opportunity for fans to see them in more expanded tales and adventures.

The choice to do this particular title at the point is really just a matter of timing in our production schedule. We’ve discussed the ongoing format plenty of times before for different properties, and actually, there will be more upcoming announcements involving the ongoing format with our other popular titles that I think people are gonna get really excited about.

Hernandez also stated that the books will have clear arcs to follow with a beginning and an ending; and to note that there will be cast changes to follow other EX:As depending on the arcs. Many characters that we did see before, who are still alive anyway, will return during the ongoing. The first arc will be 3 issues entitled "Life After Death", featuring volume one veteran, Iris. After that, there is a 2 part arc with another EX:A.

The espionage, action pack femme fatale fest will begin in 2012.

-----

THIS WEEKEND IS TAKII: AN ANIME CONVENTION IN PHILADELPHIA

AND AT THE CONVENTION IS . . ..EVE OF CHAMPIONS

On Sunday, October 23rd, J1 Studios in conjunction with The Asian Karaoke Idol Invitational will be hosting the Eve of Champions tournament!!! Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is the game, $10 to enter, and there's prizes in store for everyone.

 ___

And that is it for this week. More news next week. See ya then.

#7 DYNAMO 5:SINS OF THE FATHER #1-5 miniseries

Welcome my fellow nerdlebrities and otakutaunts to another edition of Comic Book Clash. TEAM BOOK MONTH CONTINUES as out next Match up will face one super powered family vs. another. Yes, after long deliberation, we will be seeing the Dynamo 5 vs. The Fantastic Four. Yes! I know than the FF are now called the Future Foundation but I am going to be dealing with the final storyline of that book.

GET READY as the first part of our bout is about to begin. It's DYNAMO 5 vs. the FANTASTIC FOUR.

VS.















TALE OF THE TAPE

   For those of you not familiar, Dynamo 5 is a comic book that debuted back in 2007, created and written by Jay Faerber and artist Muhmud A. Asrar. The team played off the concept of a super hero family but it the literal sense, not necessarily acting like one. The Dynamo 5 came about with a super hero with multiple powers, named Captain Dynamo was killed. His wife Maddie Warner, a former agent for a governmental super human monitoring agency called F.L.A.G., was dealing with being a widow when she found out that her husband was . . . well . . . for lack of a better term, a slut. Upon his death, Maddie found out that Captain Dynamo was tapping booty all over the world . . . and beyond. Dear God! The man ended up tapping more booty that James Bond and Captain Kirk . And it didn't matter what color, race . . . hell, human or not, if you were female, Captain Dynamo would have sex with you.  . . Sorry.
     Anyway, Tower City, the former haven of Captain Dynamo, became overrun by villains of all kinds. While other heroes lent a hand when they could but Tower City needed its own heroes. So what does the widow of a great but sexually greed hero do in this situation? Why look up if her husband has some super powered children. And what do you know? There were at least 5. At least 5.Actually 6 cause of one of the team's villains is actually their sister. And I get the feeling there will be more but none have appeared yet.
      Enter Captain Dynamo's bastard children, I mean illegitimate children. You know, I am not spinning this very well but to be honest, this is humorous to me. No disrespect at all but this is kinda hits close to home for me and I find it hilarious. Forgive me but geez Captain Dynamo. Anyway, 5 brothers and sisters who didn't know who were brothers and sisters all collected by their step-mom  in order to be a super team to replace their dad. Ladies and Gentlemen, a reflexion of the world we live in. And these 5 have super powers: Hector Chang, Bridget Flynn, Spencer Bridges, Olivia Lewis and Gage Reinhart. For the 25 issues of the original ongoing, they made up a team that defended Tower City against their father's enemies and new foes all their own while learning to be a family.
     Despite how much it bothered her to have the living constant reminders of her husband's affairs, Maddie turned these 5 strangers not only into heroes, but into a family. Originally, the Dynamo 5's codenames were Visionary (Hector), Scrap (Bridget), Myriad (Spencer), Slingshot (Olivia) & Scatterbrain (Gage) which represented one of Captain Dynamo's powers of : Laser Vision, Super Strength, Shape Shifting, Flight & Telepathy respectively. During the final storyline of the ongoing series, Maddie's son, from a previous relationship, Michael Gideon, used a machine to strip the team of their powers. Using the same machine, the team got their powers back . . . only each member got a different power than the one they originally had. And this looks like it's going to stick. So now, the Dynamo 5 codenames are Supervision (Bridget), Smasher (Hector), Menagerie (Olivia), Ramjet (Gage) & Wraith (Spencer). Most of the names are self explanatory as to who got what power. And now, we go into our miniseries.

CLASH FACTS

  Sins of the Father opens the Dynamo 5 dealing with some robots in the middle of a street in Tower City; with the team going on about how they are not used to their new powers yet. The team defeats the robots while being watched at a secret F.L.A.G. location where another team, the Primaries, are standing by without the Dynamo 5's knowledge. As they return a robot to be inspected, the Dynamo 5 and Maddie wonder who sent the robots to Tower City. Hector and Bridget leave, which seemingly bothers Spencer. Come to find out, Spencer is the son of  Captain Dynamo and an alien woman who, after the teams powers were switch, now looks permanently like an alien. So, he's . ..  feeling emo. Yay! But without quality shots to see more emotion of that, we get one panel and are told the rest.
    Bridget meets up with her boyfriend who talks about being on top of a big story and how they are having sex. Meanwhile, Hector is making out with the younger Firebird in the Reed Residence. Hector, being the youngest, is a teen like his girlfriend, Emily. They make out and Hector is worried about being caught by Emily's mom.
  Upon examining one of the robots the Dynamo 5 defeated, Maddie gets visibly scared. The three remain members of the team ask her what is wrong, Maddie explains she knows who sent the robots . . . an alien who came to take over Earth called Dominex. In a series of flashbacks, we see Captain Dynamo, joined with Omni-man, the father of the hero and Robert Kirkman title Invincible, and Supreme. Yes. Rob Liefield's Supreme. After a verbal exchange between Captain Dynamo and Omni-man over who was Earth's Champion, Supreme flies in to battle against the alien juggernaut known as Dominex.After some  . . . posturing by Supreme, Dominex slaps him and the battle goes in earnest. Before Maddie can complete the story, Tower City trembles as three Aliens that look like Dominex have arrived on Earth.
     Issue #2 opens with a great shot of Maddie looking like she is about to have a nervous breakdown and spoil her pants at the same time.(As you see to your right) Creeping out Gage, Olivia and Spencer, they ask more about what had happened and what's going on. Maddie refuses at first but relents when Spencer reminds her that he will just go into her mind and rip out the information in need be. OK . . . I like Spencer right now. Knowing the 3 new aliens are somehow related to Dominex, Maddie continues with her story. It seems that to defeat Dominex, it took the combined might of Captain Dynamo, Omni-man & Supreme, who are Superman level powerful . . . and the original Firebird, the Savage Dragon and . . . honestly . . . a hero I don't know. Once they defeated Dominex, the alien asks the six heroes to kill him. Captain Dynamo refuses. Dominex goes on about how this shame would taint his family and Captain Dynamo says tough cookies. Supreme states that maybe they SHOULD kill Dominex and argues with Captain Dynamo. Yet, the captain stands firm that they don't cross that line. Captain Dynamo warned Dominex not to come back cause if he did, they would be waiting.
    Fast forward to today. Maddie explains that those 3 aliens need to be stop and for the Dynamo 5 to suit up. As the three aliens get national attention, Hector and Emily both get scared. When Hector calls, Emily insists on going along. Maddie even calls in Cecil Stedman, also from Invincible, to see if his Global Defense Agency , will provide help and work with her coordinating things against the 3 Dominex aliens. And while the Guardians of the Globe are off planet, Stedman agrees to see if he can get a hold of Invincible. After a nervous pep talk about how the Dynamo 5 and Firebird are now Earth's Champions after the 3 Dominex aliens call them out. Invincible joins the group of heroes in time to meet up with the 3 Dominex's face to face. Come to find out, they are Dominex's sons and they want to avenge Daddy's defeat. Smasher, in his infinite wisdom and against his girlfriend's wishes, proclaims that he is indeed one of the children of one of the heroes to beat Dominex. Which one son decks Smasher . . . threw several buildings and quite a distance away.
    And thus the battle begins in earnest. The 3 sons of Dominex vs. 5 of Captain Dynamo's children . . . and the daughter of the original Firebird . . . and the first son of Omni-man. Wow. Yeah. Lots of love and kids popping out there. As the battle starts, there are a few exchanges such as Firebird wanting to find her boyfriend who . . . yeah . . . go knocked through several buildings and has not been seen yet. Maddie stops her. One of Dominex's sons states why Invincible's dad's race, Viltrumite, hasn't conquered Earth yet but Invincible scoffs it off. They recognize the race Spencer seems to be showing. Spencer aka Wraith reaches in another son of Dominex's mind to find some of his mother's race, a Khandrian, torturing someone in some kind of kinky S&M tie up in the ceiling. Wraith saves the camera man and a woman who knows it's Spencer is surprised by how he looks. The feed is good as the children of the Savage Dragon, Malcolm & Angel watch the battle, deciding to head over to help.
    Meanwhile, the Primaries are introduced to their new member  . . . which turns out to be Captain Dynamo . . . or a clone of him. What?! The Dynamo 5, Invincible and Firebird pound on the Dominex boys as Smasher returns and are joined by Malcolm and Angel Dragon. As some quick panels that . . . I will get to these panels later. The heroes feel beaten and Supervision is thinking about surrendering as the 3 Dominex sons are proving a bit much for them. The Primaries arrive on the scene and join the fight. The Primaries help civilians and then tell Supervision that they are there to clean up the Dynamo 5's mess . . . ooo, BURN! We see that Captain Dynamo is being . . . operated by the guy who got the Primaries together? Um . . . what? Flagstone, the guy who looks out of grey rock with an army helmet on his head, goes on about teamwork but the younger heroes quickly follow along with teamwork of their own. Ramjet saves the one Primary who was about to be killed by one of Dominex's boys; and it happens to be a character that the Dynamo 5 actually put back in jail named War Chest. The two have a quick exchange with War Chest liking Ramjet's new look as he hinted at his old one. Angel and Hector aka Smasher have their own exchange in mid fight as Angel states her mother was called Smasher but the codename suited Hector. Firebird gets jealous and tells the two to pay attention and fight the enemy. She then tries to deep fry one Dominex's sons . . . blast it Faerber, you couldn't name them? . . . . For her flash fry attack, said son of Dominex takes out a stress sign and harpoons it through Firebird's chest. Ramjet takes Firebird to the hospital and Hector is enraged. So enraged that . . . he retreats?! Huh? Actually, issue 4 sees Smasher teleporting away and ending up at a laboratory where he asks about a strong suit that would give a normal person super strong. The doctor tells him that the super strong suit on a person who is already super strong would make him the most powerful begin on the planet. Smasher states "Good."
     Issue #5 opens up with Smasher returning to battle with the super strong suit on. One of Dominex's sons mocks him, stating that does he think that the outfit will make a difference. Then we get a full page panel of Smasher  . . . smashing apart the son of Dominex's face with his fist.  OMG!  Seriously, you see the eye ball pop out and his mouth and teeth rip and break apart . . . . Ok. Enough of that right. War Chest states that Smasher is wearing the suit as the other heroes stop in their tracks. Another Dominex bastard comes to Smasher to attack . . . Only to get his head punched off for his trouble. WOW. And mind you . . . Hector is the baby of the team. He's the youngest and he's doing all this. Maddie goes on the comms to tell Hector to stop but he shuts it off. Captain Dynamo is about to talk when Smasher threatens him to shut up or he will do the same to him. Smasher's sister try to talk him down and even show the final son of Dominex surrendering. Yet, Smasher states that if he did, will his children come to do the same as he and his brothers. Then . . . on national tv . . . everyone sees Smasher completely pulverize the final son of Dominex's head. His mother looks on the tv horrified. Other supporting cast are mortified by Smasher's actions. While the other Dynamo 5 siblings and heroes discuss the mortality or need for the actions of Smasher, he is confronted by Supervision to talk about what happened and the fact that he just killed 3 people. Smasher, in his infinite wisdom, decides to be racist and calls them aliens and that she can't stop him from living. When Supervision states that is he threaten his own sister, Smasher snaps out of it She then asks him to remove the super suit and Smasher just takes it off saying that he's not being corrupted. The Primaries help civilians and tell Menagerie that they have to see if Tower City is big enough for both the Dynamo 5 and them.The heroes help with clean up while Hector, in civvies, sees Emily in the hospital only to be thrown out of the room by her mom. After saving more civilians, War Chest and Ramjet flirt and Supervision and Menagerie decide to destroy the super strong suit. Maddie goes to her former F.L.A.G. colleague to find out what is going on with the Primaries and "Captain Dynamo only to be followed by Captain Dynamo coming back to a lab where the guy that sent out the Primaries takes off his helmet and lets Captain Dynamo sit. Finally, the Dynamo 5, scans Smasher, sit and talk about what has happened, Hector's action and where it was right or wrong. The two sisters think that Hector crossed the line while Spencer thinks that the action was justified meanwhile Gage is still in disbelief about what his youngest brother has done. Hector arrives, over hearing the conversation, looking rather dejected. His other siblings tell him that it will be ok and ask how Emily is doing. Hector tells what happened and apologizes for his actions; claiming he regrets them and for his family to forgive him. He turns to leave as all but Spencer reassure him that he's fine. Once he is gone, Olivia states that they were over reacting till Spencer corrected her. Our miniseries ends with Hector walking out while Spencer tells the others that he read Hector's mind while he spoke; Hector was lying and that he does not regret a single thing he did.

CLASH TACTICS

    Ok. That felt a lot longer than what it was. And it really shouldn't have. Now, I am going to go with the good before I go with the bad. Jay Faerber gave us a miniseries that is very much lived in with an exciting assortment of characters that would make the Legion of Super Heroes jealous. The Dynamo 5 had a lot to come to grips with and we got to see that with 3 out of the 5. I know there were a slew of guest stars and this miniseries was almost a contained event or crossover just given it's own mini. Lots and lots of action. Some good intrigue with the Captain Dynamo and Spencer subplots. Great characterizations and interplay with characters, including Invincible, the children of Savage Dragon, Firebird, etc. And the sons of Dominex provided some great challenges that brought forth questions on kill or don't kill and facing morality as a super hero in comparison to a soldier.
    And see Hector kinda go nuts after watching his girlfriend impaled was definitely a sight to see. Hector, Bridget and Spencer got the most development during the miniseries and was so well developed throughout that you got the feeling of who they were and where they wanted to go. Maddie was also developed but with little screen time, we saw them be who she were.
     And that  . . . for the most part was the Good.

     Now . . . the bad.
     I am going to start with Faerber before I get into the art. Now, I understand that there are a slew of characters. I am glad that Emily was with the Dynamo 5 to really shine a little with Hector without her mom. Unfortunately, the title is called Dynamo 5; so why did Olivia and Gage were barely touched and they were on the team! They felt like guest stars in their own title. For the love, Emily had more development, as I just pointed out. Angel and Malcolm Dragon had more characterization during the majority of the mini. We only catch glimpses of Olivia and Gage at the end of the mini. We are told that Olivia had come up with an idea using team work. So why were we only TOLD it and not shown it. There was space to but was not utilized as well as it could have been. Heck! That prick Flagstone and Captain Dynamo got more development then 2 members of the title team. Faerber . . . don't make teammates and lead characters of your book look like guest stars. There were a few times where we are told things when we could have been shown instead of big 2 page spreads or crammed 16 panels on one page.
    And now, I am going to talk about Julio Brilha, who pencils and inks the miniseries. Reading and looking over his art, I will say this . . . it is good . . . when the characters are big enough and he is not in a hurry. Ok. I admit. I am not an artist. I don't draw very well. But I have been reading comic books for 20 years (May 11, 2011 is 20 year anniversary). Yes. There are personal things connected to that day which is why I remember it. Anyway, Brilha does some GREAT panel work throughout the series. His main problem is that when he pencils and inks smaller panels, they do not look as good and finished as the larger panels. The inking clumps together more. I don't know if that is cause he was in a hurry or just the size of the characters but it was definitely inconsistent art throughout the miniseries. It was the same artist but the art went from average and a bit hurried to stunning and poster worthy. That gets a bit annoying reading the miniseries. I believe I would need to see more of Brilha's work, given time and patience to see if we have more stunning work as he is capable of. His inks seemed sloppy but it could be, again, either he was in a rush or just bad inking. Yet he inked the whole thing and the larger panels are really spectacular. Unfortunately, the further in the series, the bigger the gap between mediocre to spectacular the art became. Still, a solid, average effort but there just needs to be more polishing with Brilha cause the potential is definitely there.

With that said, a good story and questions of morality are examined while we get a big super hero team up miniseries. Yet, making main characters take back seats to supporting or even guest characters is bad. Inconsistent art hold back this book as your eyes and mouth will be saying WTF on several occasions. These things are what hold back the book from being a real gem. I didn't talk about the colors cause they were fine. Nothing spectacular, nothing mediocre. Just average. Still, it is a good introduction to the world of Dynamo 5 and Image's upcoming heroes in general. Faerber & Brilha's Sins of the Father leave you wanting a little more but not too impressed to be scowing back issues immediately.

That is why I give Dynamo 5: Sins of the Father an X Division Contendership. It is not bad. It's not great. It's ok. You can buy it and enjoy it and then leave it alone.  But what do the rest of you think. Let me know. 


NEXT WEEK: The First Part of this bout is over! Now get ready as next week, I will be taking us on a journey through the final adventure of the Fantastic Four in "THREE!"

And remember, if you are on the side of evil, say goodbye. To all others, good journey!