Sometimes the reporter has to become a part of the story to ensure there is a story to tell.
What They Say:
FLASH FACT! She is ready to reveal the Amazons’ secret!
The Review:
After the tease in the first issue of Flashpoint about a resistance in Europe and the name Lois Lane being bandied about, I was definitely curious to see how this book would turn out. The evolution of Lois over the decades has been one that has adapted well to the changes of women in society and she’s been a tough as nails independent type for a long time now. While this world changes her in some ways because of the Superman issue, she is still who she is at her core, and seeing her becoming involved in the resistance makes a lot of sense, both as a reporter and as a person because of the losses she sees along the way. This is another book that also places us directly in Europe and offers up a brief view of events in the year preceding the sinking of Western Europe.
Seeing the event through Lois’ eyes doesn’t really give the full impact that you might get from a movie, and it’s probably the weakest point of the book overall as the waves are quick, the losses big but glossed over and Lois ends up out of there fairly quickly. Being there to cover fashion as the war goes on is an amusing point of order from Perry, but it gives her a reason for being there (not that they couldn’t come up with better) and being in Paris directly has her at a focal point when the waves crash through. With Jimmy in tow, at least for awhile, she gets to see just how good he was but also ends up learning something else; he was an agent for Cyborg who was getting intel on what was going on over there. When Lois ends up in New Themyscira after being “rescued” by the Amazons, she ends up taking on his role over the coming months of re-education so she can do something just as important as Jimmy was doing. While she was a reporter, this is something even more important to her because it’s a necessity to survive.
The book has a pretty main stumbling point that can’t be helped in that it has a whole lot to cover in a short period of time, giving it a rushed feeling. Abnett and Lanning can do better (and have done better elsewhere win the Flashpoint minis), but there’s just too much to convey here to get Lois into the mode of being a spy and bringing up various key intel points along the way so she can report in. I did like how Cyborg worked things and the connection to Jimmy, but the book has a bit of a rushed and disjointed nature about it due to the pacing. What we do learn is definitely interesting as the Amazons have made the UK their own and have been reshaping it quickly and easily in their own image, which in turn has you wondering where the technology for that came from and what else they may be using it for. The women-first approach isn’t a surprise either, though they’re using commoners for experiments to perfect a way to increase their ranks. Even still, it’s hard to imagine a forced-creation Amazon warrior being an equal to a real one, or a real one taking them serious. Seeing it all through Lois’ eyes works okay overall, but they could have done a lot more with it.
Digital Notes:
This digital edition of Lois Lane and the Resistance from Comixology features just the first printing cover of the issue with no additional extras included in the book.
In Summary:
Lois Lane and the Resistance has a more comic-booky feel to it because of the pacing, the lack of real depth overall and the artwork by Eddie Nunez. It’s not bad artwork, but it doesn’t fit the material well as it has more of a DC Universe animated video feel to it. And it also doesn’t help that Lois wears the same outfit for something like six months worth of time in the story which doesn’t say much for continuity and reality either as she lives on the island. I like the concept and what they want Lois to do and become, but it’s not well executed here.
Grade: C+
