“The world spins back around.”
Creative Staff:
Story: Marguerite Bennett
Art: Mirka Andolfo
Colors: Wendy Broome
Letterer: Wes Abbott
What They Say:
Hawkgirl flies around the shrubs of Zambesi in her jetpack to uncover the origin of these mechanical gods as the Bombshells follow her in their new “Vixenmobile.”
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The Bombshells series kicks off a new three-part arc here, though as I’ve said before, it’s all part of the overall Vixen/Zambesi arc that kicked off a bit ago. Marguerite Bennett is seeding some things that have been around for some time now and while it’s certainly interesting it’s also moving at a pace that’s a little more frustrating than other arcs have been in the series, partially because it’s mostly stuck to this group. This issue is one that works a bit better as you feel things tightening up a but but also because Mirka Andolfo returns, and that means some really great looking characters and designs – especially combined with the skilled hand and eye of Wendy Broome giving it a bigger splash of color.
This installment as a kickoff to the mini arc has two subplots going that are going to intersect sooner rather than later. The initial is seeing what Wenda Ader has become since being twisted by Nazi science into Whisper A’daire, a skin changing snake of a woman that’s hellishly dangerous. Seeing how she goes from being captured and contained to a general threat is well done and I like the element she presents as something a bit different because of her transformation but also because of her passionate faith in the Reich – and herself. It’s an odd place to start the issue as it took a bit to connect with her, with a little help from Hawkgirl later on, but I like the group that she’s a part of and what it could represent as the story progresses.
The bigger part of the issue is the time in the Vixenmobile where there’s some somber material between Kate and Renee over Jason, reinforcing their desire to take down Cheetah, but also something of a history lesson before things setup for the next fight with the mechanical gods/beasts. Shiera’s come across as a bit flighty in all of this, kind of hard to pin down her personality and what she’s about, but she produces some great dialogue and exposition here about the past and what’s lost, and why it should be feared, that it really does resonate better than one might thing. She’s not exactly passionate about it – it’s hard to come across that way when you make exhaust figures of the statues on Easter Island – but she knows a lot and presents it well before things turn dangerous. What we get from her here is an understanding of why this drives her as it does and that expands her personality a good deal.
In Summary:
The Zambesi arc gets a new three-part segment underway here and I’m admittedly kind of hopeful that this will bring it to a close for a bit so we can move onto something else with the wide range of characters that we have. The initial focus on Wenda was a little off-putting but it comes together well while Shiera’s dominance is definitely a welcome piece, especially since we’ll be learning more about her and Mari’s relationship next time around. It’s a solid installment all around that delivers some great art and color work and it nudges the story forward a bit, but some of it just feels a little too “cartoony” for me in a way since the Vixenmobile keeps giving me Wacky Raceland flashbacks.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: October 7th, 2016
MSRP: $0.99
