A little time behind the lines.
Creative Staff:
Story: Marguerite Bennett
Art: Ted Naifeh
What They Say:
In a club owned by The Joker’s Daughter, star performer Zatanna is about to put on a show that a group of Nazi officers won’t soon forget.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
As the DC Comics Bombshells series continues to expand laying the foundations for its characters and settings we get more locales to work with. This time around we get to shift to that of Berlin itself, bringing us plenty of Nazi symbolism and a sense of evil about it in proper comic book form. Marguerite Bennett hsa Ted Naifeh joining the series at this point on the artwork and it works quite well in following the overall sense of style we’ve had while bringing his own elements to it. The artwork of any series is important to be sure but with this one where it’s trying to evoke the era and the Bombshells overall it’s even more important. Naifeh captures it while also bringing in his own style.
This installment is a little odd in a sense and one that reads better the second time around with what it’s trying to do. Where the focus lies is in introducing to us the Joker’s Daughter, who isn’t named beyond that here, who runs a cabaret in the city where the main attraction is that of Zatanna. Entertaining a group of Nazi’s, the first half of the book is essentially her singing and performing on stage, which is something that’s always difficult to pull off in print. There are some nice movements to be had here but the song material itself, with its mix of German, ends up taking me out of it more than anything else. The visual for it works though, even if Zatanna in this form doesn’t need too many changes from what some of her costumes have been like over the years. It’s appealing enough to carry it in the end.
Where it gets a little odd though is when it’s revealed that one of the Nazi’s is actually John Constantine and Zatanna is outing him as a spy. There’s some actual sense to this as it progresses and that second read through certainly lets it flow better, but the real fun is just in watching her transform him into a rabbit so she can protect him as part of the larger mission. Seeing a sort of undercover side to the war effort by the Allies is appealing with how those with powers and magic would work into it. Even more so when you take into account Hitler’s own interest in the occult and how they’d be very desirable. The Joker’s Daughter’s comments about the Master would certainly seem to indicate Hitler, though it could be for the Joker as well. In the end, this sets up some new things in a little bit of an awkward way but once you get where it’s going it all comes together well.
In Summary:
DC Comics Bombshells adds a new area of interest and brings another male character into the property, one that I’m glad to see in this time period as it’s something new and different for him. With the bombshells themselves, Zatanna comes across well and leaves me wanting more while the Joker’s Daughter hits some good notes too, though she just feels a little off and a little less defined at this point. Which isn’t a surprise, but after the first few issues have done so much to establish characters firmly and quickly it just feels a little more noticeable. Naifeh’s inclusion in the series with his artwork is pretty welcome with what he does here and if he’s part of the overall rotation of the book it’ll definitely be something to look forward to each time, especially as each installment brings an artist more comfort in the material and its design itself.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: August 29th, 2015
MSRP: $0.99
