A sprawling mess of chaos!
Creative Staff:
Story: Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing
Art: Brian Ching
Colors: Kelly Fitzpatrick
Letterer: Wes Abbott
What They Say:
Devastated by betrayals, both sides struggle for control!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Gotham City Garage set things up the last time around where you knew it wasn’t going to be quite that easy. Having Catwoman essentially drop the big one on the group Luthor was leading and wiping it out may have felt like a victory but it was just pushing things back a bit until the regrouping can begin. Kelly and Lanzing hit a sweet spot with that moment of sacrifice (if it was truly sacrifice) before opening up to the more down and dirty fight that gets underway here. And it’s well timed as Brian Ching delivers a great looking book for it with some real rawness and intensity for the characters that’s just a delight to dig into the details of it and the expressions of the cast as they realize what they’re really confronting.
But let’s be real, we knew that wasn’t going to be the end and even if it took out most of the players, which it seems to have for the moment at least, it wasn’t going to nix Luthor. He’s mean and in his purple and green machine here and intent on taking down the Garage. He’s got his backup forces in motion with the Red Hoods bought off easily enough, and they have plenty of motivation to destroy the Garage, and Luthor’s going up against the big powered types that are being thrown at him. Putting Steel and Diana together is definitely fun to watch as well as Barda in the mix as they can go toe to toe with him but get knocked down without being killed. It’s no surprise that it’s all going to come down to Kara since she was what kicked off events here with her getting out of the dome and discovering so many truths, but that’s a delayed moment so far as expected.
There’s a lot of fun with the smaller moments in this installment that’s definitely enjoyable. The arrival of the League has some joy in seeing that the gang knows who Ra’s is considering the change in leadership and that does help to bring some parity to the fight. I believe this issue has Lois doing the narration – though it could be Barbara as well – and seeing how she’s hiding in the Garage under the desk doesn’t do her any favors, though it puts her in a prime position to see Barbara coming in to find Bruce as she doesn’t want him getting away as the place is on fire. It’s not a huge fight but I loved the visuals that we get with the start of it here as Bruce is an imposing figure in comparison to Barbara and the flames only add to it, especially with Kelly Fitzpatrick’s strong color work as she seemingly always delivers.
In Summary:
This is one of those action filled installments that may be light on actual story but it moves a lot of pieces around and engages in some good fight sequences. I like the scale of events a lot and seeing the way the main team breaks apart to deal with different aspects of what’s being thrown at them as needed. Each segment works well against the backdrop of the whole, though I think I like the Barbara and Kara material the most, and all of it looks great with Brian Ching nailing a very fun and dynamic look with all of the action. Definitely a solid chapter in the story.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: January 31st, 2018
MSRP: $0.99
