Who do you see?
Creative Staff:
Story: Marguerite Bennett
Art: Laura Braga
Colors: J. Nanjan
Letterer: Wes Abbott
What They Say:
Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy grow food for the people of Leningrad using Ivy’s powers, while Lois Lane and the Reaper sneak into Hugo Strange’s arena where they find Supergirl and Powergirl fighting!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Bombshells gets its next Leningrad based arc underway with this issue with the “Super Weapon” storyline that’s working the familiar three issue angle. Marguerite Bennett has been handling the book wonderfully from early on and has drilled down to figure out what works best at this stage and it’s definitely firing on all cylinders for me. What makes this issue a really great one for me, however, is the return of Laura Braga on the artwork. As one of the two primary artists whose work I look forward to the most on a regular basis with this series, her installments just have a really great look when it comes to the details in the design with costume and hair the utterly delights. And after all this time her work is well served with what Nanjan brings to it with the color design as well, making for a great looking book.
This installments works the two-track approach but it’s largely focused on one of them. The opening half of the book is giving us more of an update of sorts on where things stand as the forces that are running the siege on Leningrad are lobbing some bombs over the walls as there’s some light going on over there based on the arrival of so many people here now from the outside. This gives us a chance to see the “circus” that is inside the walls, quite literally so, and how they defend against it. A lot of it is what Raven is doing but between that and some good time from Ivy and others we get to see the way everyone has come together for the common defense. It’s good stuff but doesn’t really advance things too much. It’s a welcome moment to circle back to most of them, even just briefly, since there are a lot of fun characters to work with here.
The main thrust of the book is the fight that Power Girl and Supergirl are going through as Hugo Strange orchestrates this in order to break Kara. Braga delivers some really fun scenes with them going at it, especially in really highlighting their visual design in a way that reminds you of the era that they’re trying to create, and it makes for a very dynamic and engaging look. Kara’s doing her best to try and break through the hold that Strange has on Power Girl but she’s had so little contact with anyone outside of Strange it seems that it’s a hard job to do. With Power Girl being a clone that’s barely a year old, well, there’s an obvious naivete that Strange is taking advantage of. It’s a solid piece that gets everything into motion for the twist to come with Power Girl breaking free in this arc but it also takes some time to reflect on Kara’s past and the way Kortni has made such a huge influence on her, even if it does slow things down a bit storywise.
In Summary:
Bombshells gets its next phase of this overall arc underway and it’s a solid piece, more so when it comes to the focus on Supergirl and Power Girl. The action is the draw but also the working through of feelings and intent that Kara has with the loss of her sister and how she intends to honor that memory. I’m interested in seeing where this arc goes overall and more of what the Leningrad aspect will be like, as well as getting to see more of Raven’s involvement in things. There’s plenty to like here and it’s another beautiful looking issue from Laura Braga and J. Nanjan as they take this particular period and look to the right level.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: March 3rd, 2017
MSRP: $0.99
