A perfect epilogue.
Creative Staff:
Story: Marguerite Bennett
Art: Laura Braga
Colors: J. Nanjan
Letterer: Wes Abbott
What They Say:
The conclusion to the Battle of Berlin! You don’t want to miss out on this explosive finale!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The end of the Battle of Berlin arc serves as a great point where you get the sense that a very solid battle has been won but the war continues on – and at high cost. Yet amid all of that there’s the welcome and needed moments of humanity, levity, and romance as well as simple carnal bliss. The series has been running strong for just over a year now and has delivered some fantastic stories filled with great characters that the thought of losing the book makes me realize just how committed of a fan I’ve become with it. Thankfully, the series is just taking a week off before getting into the next phase of the war and likely shifting up the character set a bit since we’ve been focused around this group for a bit. Not that I want to leave them, since Bennett has made them so much fun to read and engage with.
With this part of the arc we’re essentially given over to the epilogue aspect and I’ll easily admit that these are my favorite parts of any story. That and the lead-in because both sides of a story arc like this is where we get to see the characters being people. Mera’s arrival and the work in saving her sister and dealing with Raven over Joker’s Daughter now gives way to a sense of peace. Mera in particular has opened up Atlantis to the refugees from Berlin so that they have a place to be until they have someplace to go, understanding those feelings herself and how hard it is to be in that position. Atlantis is certainly likely big enough to accommodate this, though the focus is mostly just on our costumed types as they now engage in some downtime and recovery.
While we do get a tease at the very end about what’s to come next as Vixen is introduced, a lot of what we get throughout this is just fun material as the women all connect and disperse to their own stories. Kate and Helena have a good talk about why Helena will be going back to Germany and that in turn fuels Kate’s desire to talk to Maggie about her own past more, things that she’s kept hidden that have eaten at her. We get some wonderfully fun material with Harley and Ivy as packages are unwrapped and we’re exposed to such a honest and truthful lusting and love between them that it’s beyond adorable and on a whole other level. There’s even some truly beautiful material with Raven and Mera’s sister as they’re now free of what was controlling them and their sense of wonder being back in the world proper is so perfectly captured by Laura Braga that it’s almost painful. Hell, even Zatanna gets a little positive vibe material here as so much has come to a close even as so much more is ahead of them.
In Summary:
Every artist working on this series has turned in some fantastic work and I’ve loved pretty much all of it as they bring these characters to life that Bennett has scripted. Laura Braga has been one of the best artists to work on this series and this installment where she has so many to run with, so many personalities and events going on, that it comes together beautifully. Each of these characters has their own life and sparkle in their eyes through her artwork and that just elevates Bennett’s scripts by an order of magnitude. This has been a very good arc overall with a strong epilogue that makes me feel very connected to each and every character and wanting more of their stories. It’ll be a long two weeks until I get to immerse myself in this world once more.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: July 29th, 2016
MSRP: $0.99
