An exposition filled conclusion!
Creative Staff:
Story: Chris Roberson
Art: Cezar Razek
Colors: Dijo Lima
What They Say:
Doc Savage and his companions have discovered that a number of closed cases that they’ve dealt with over the decades and considered to be isolated threats were instead interconnected, all part of a larger web of crime. And now Doc finds himself at the center of that web, face to face with the man behind it all!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The Doc Savage world is one that has a lot of appeal if you can get into the right mindset with it. Having read a smattering of books the last couple of years from Dynamite, I continue to find myself interested in the property but still feel weird about it when it deals with present day situations. When the book sticks to the past, going back to its origin period, there’s a greater sense of properness about it in a way as the characters feel like they’re simply better and more engaging there. It’s similar in a way to how some Bond films don’t click as well in the present day because of just how much technology takes over compared to character. Doc Savage has managed to work that balance well enough in this series simply because it’s told tales from the past.
With this concluding issue, it’s one that tries to bring that balance in once again but is caught up in two problems. The first is the modern side of it where it just feels a little too neat and easy with Doc and his team of Longshot and Axum gliding in and taking out the entire mountain base with relative ease after dealing with the technology side. The other problem is that Peter Weaver as a villain ends up undercutting the finale. Not everything has to be action filled of course but with Weaver essentially a villainous Stephen Hawking, well, it’s not terribly compelling – especially since you know Doc will come out on top at the end because of his meticulous planning. The combination of the two gives it all a bit of an odd feeling, though I liked the flashback pieces that we got from time to time since it focused more on Weaver and how his plans unfolded against what we saw in the previous issues.
But in the end, it really is just the final phase of a chess match between Weaver with his Arachne organization and Doc and his corporation side. The two have a history that go back a long ways, but it’s only been the last couple of months that Doc has realized all of these connections – something that Weaver delights in since he’s worked in the shadows for so long. The walkthrough with him explaining everything is classic villain material and it fleshes out a few things, most of which could have been inferred, but it ties it all up pretty neatly as he gets ready to deal with Doc. Doc, of course, already countered since he didn’t make a mistake and instead we see the massive mop up operation taking place as Weaver nearly has a breakdown. Again, it’s all satisfying in its own way but it has that almost rushed element to it and being far, far, too neat.
In Summary:
Doc Savage is a character that could have a pretty fun renaissance if given the chance and a bit of a mainstream push – we’re still holding out hope for that Shane Black movie working right – and this series shows the way you can work past and present into it well enough. I still stand by the idea that Doc works best in the past but Roberson and Rezak handled it well enough in the present even if they do seem to be almost too capable with their corporation and staffing. There are definitely some fun things in this series overall and I liked the mystery of Arachne as it went along but Weaver as the final villain just ended up falling short and wasn’t as compelling as it could be. It’ll be interesting to see what the next Doc series is like.
Grade: B-
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: April 13th. 2016
MSRP: $3.99
