Millennia in the making, Black Adam will stop at nothing to revive Isis.
Creative Staff:
Story: Marguerite Bennett
Art: Stephen Byrne
Colors: Stephen Byrne
Letterer: Wes Abbott
What They Say:
The love of Black Adam’s life has been delivered to the Lazarus Pit!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Bombshells: United has been working pretty well recently, though it’s taken a couple of turns that slowed it down from time to time. Just getting back to characters that I like and feeling like it’s a part of the previous series has done wonders for me with it. Marguerite Bennett’s working with probably one of my favorite groupings with Kate and Renee and dealing with their past and present in Spain. This installment brings us a new artist to the book with Stephen Byrne and he fits in well, to a degree. I absolutely like what we get here but it’s definitely a change from recent installments, especially in the portrayal of Black Adam who now feels twenty years younger in look and nowhere near as imposing. That said, a lot of this feels like it’s how an animated version of this property would look and I want more of that.
Adam’s arrival in the down below has thrown everything into a bad situation since he’s got them all bound up and is just preparing to bring Isis back to life. Of course, he has to monologue first because that’s required and it provides Jason, who wasn’t seen, a chance to sneak around and set a distraction into motion. That results in the chaos that ensues as Adam rages and Kate, Talia, and Renee all do their best to try and stave off what it is that Adam wants to do. We even get a really great moment where Cheetah, knowing how badly things have gone because of her for a range of reasons, tries to atone by stealing the last remaining life from the pit by attempting to kill herself and fall into the pit at the same time. Suffice to say it doesn’t work, though it’s an interesting response and shows how much she’s trying to do things right, and it just pushes Adam to more action.
What’s surprising is where the book spends most of its time in dealing with Jason and Miriam. With the two of them staying out of the action and having something resembling a fairy tale good time in doing so as the swing to and fro, it turns darker when he begins talking about his fear of going back to the surface and how his staying down here is destroying his two moms. It works really well with what it wants to do and seeing such care and empathy coming out of Miriam just drives it home all the more. I really liked what we had of her during the main arc she was introduced in and wasn’t sure how well she’d fit into this arc, even if her powers make her presence really important in dealing with Black Adam. But she has just such a great look here through Stephen Byrne’s artwork that it makes her utterly engaging as she cares for Jason.
In Summary:
Bombshells: United has a really good installment here with what it works through. The action is fun, the Lazarus Pit material works well with how it’s utilized, and the villainous monologue material has the right kind of fun about it. The big section for me is Jason and Miriam that really hits some great emotional beats and finally gets me to like Jason in this form. Stephen Byrne is really strong with this book as there’s a whole lot to like with the layouts, the flow of the action and pacing, and the emotional moments he gets to bring to life. I’m not a fan of his Black Adam interpretation after the last couple of artists gave us something darker and far more imposing but I really love how this almost feels like it’s a cinebook of an animated version of the property that I really hope we get some day from Warner Animation.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: January 12th, 2017
MSRP: $0.99