A quick catching up moment.
Creative Staff:
Story: Marguerite Bennett
Art: Sandy Jarrell
Colors: Kelly Fitzpatrick
Letterer: Wes Abbott
What They Say:
The Bombshells have spread out across the world, but some things still tie them together…
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The opening ten issue arc of Bombshells: United had some things that I enjoyed and a lot that I didn’t which made it a difficult run coming off a hundred issues that largely made me pretty happy. With this issue, Marguerite Bennett kicks off the “World Tour” arc and gets to do that with Sandy Jarrell, who put together some great installments in the previous run. Jarrell’s artwork is a bit more distinctive in some ways compared to the other artists we had in the original run but it worked really well and he came up with some wonderfully creative layouts and flow of the visuals to really allow it to stand out well. This opening issue has things a bit more contained just because of the structure of it but I was just thrilled to see his work again, and to have it so wonderfully colored by Kelly Fitzpatrick once more.
While this issue has a bit of a downside for me with more of Bennett’s musical elements with a song playing throughout much of it, something that has not worked for me in past issues or other series where she’s done it, the bulk of it is basically the start of the world tour idea in that we get to move around the world to catch up with a lot, but not all, of those that we saw in the past series. The focus on Wonder Woman and the Wonder girls for the past ten issues had its moments but that drilled down focus and a lack of feeling connected to the rest of the cast really made a big impact on my enjoyment of it. So getting an issue here that gives us even just a few panels to see Harley and her group in Poland or Supergirl off in Russia, that really does speak to me in a way because it reinforces all those past connections that this sprawling cast has.
There are some areas that stand out more than others, such as the opening with Batwoman dealing with ghosts from her past haunting her in Spain that takes up a few pages. The time in Honolulu after that as we see Black Canary performing in a group on stage while Oliver is to the side is a lot of fun, fishnet stockings and all, but it’s the inclusion of the Suicide Squad that delights me more than anything else as I really enjoyed their time previously in the annual and more. Another big area that works for me is seeing Katana putting things in place for what she’s getting ready to face and there’s a nice layer of tradition going through things here as she chooses the right outfit, sayings, movements, and so forth. Jarrell does a really nice job in this in working her costume design combined with the layouts but I also just really enjoyed the hair design from the full page spread that we got here.
In Summary:
While this issue serves more as a recap and “where are they now?” segment than anything else, it’s a critical one for me as Bombshells: United hasn’t felt like it’s part of what the previous Bombshells series was. Bennett runs through a lot of the cast here, but not all of it, and gives us a heads-up as to where they are and some of what they’re up to while providing nods to the bigger stories that are coming – all of which has me excited. I love Wonder Woman as much as most fans of the Bombshells property but I’m extra excited to move on from her for a bit and dig into the rest of the cast. This issue just clicked for me really well and while the cast is a big part of it the artwork was as well as I just adore Jarrell’s take on these characters, the camera placement that we get for it such as the fishnet stockings moment, and the expressions from the cast that sometimes feels like we’re going to slide sideways into an installment of The Spirit. Very good stuff.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: November 3rd, 2017
MSRP: $0.99
