Creative Staff:
Story: Marguerite Bennett
Art: Richard Ortiz
Colors: J. Nanjan
Letterer: Wes Abbott
What They Say:
Batwoman, still missing the safe haven she used to have in Gotham, comes look into Spain in search of Renee.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The shift away from the Wonder Girls storyline is something that has done wonders for me, which frustrates me as I liked it as a concept but not its execution. Marguerite Bennett’s return to the character that kicked off the previous book definitely hit a good spot with Kate Kane in Spain and seeing how things have turned out there with her return. But the last and this issue also make out wonderfully well with Richard Ortiz on the art duties as I especially like his take on Batwoman but also really dig the way he presents Black Adam in this. Frankly, he almost comes across as a kind of One Piece villain here with the size difference alone! But it’s also the little things with the layouts and the use of black empty space in the crypt that delights as it gives it a kind of cinematic feel that you can imagine a camera whirling around in as events move along.
Kate’s return and aligning with the group Renee has with Corrigan definitely opens up some new possibilities and seeing them strike back against Black Adam and his tyranny is the name of the game. There’s some minor catch-up to what’s been going on and how he was essentially installed in Spain in order to keep the country out of the larger war going on and that’s tied to neighbors being scared or turning against each other, creating an unhealthy atmosphere that just furthers Black Adam’s own goals. There’s something that he wants from here and that also may tie back to what we saw in Zambesi with ancient artifacts, providing a nice loop around there and why Black Adam is being as patient as he is. There’s a good sense of scale and power coming from him and the team delivers it wonderfully.
What becomes intriguing is that Renee has aligned with the Religion of Crime organization in order to deal with Black Adam. Though they’ve focused on keeping the balance of good and evil of the millennia as part of their sacred order, the war has had them doing more good than anything else, including saving kids, and it’s surreal to them. But it’s an important nod to just what kind of imbalance there is with this war and Black Adam in particular driving a stake through the heat of Spain in order to achieve his goal. While things don’t go well for this group in the brief time we deal with them it’s the kind of expansion that’s intriguing and utilizes some good stuff from the larger lore.
In Summary:
Bombshells: United is delivering well for me at this stage and it has me more excited than I’ve been for most of its run to see what comes next. The locations being used, the characters added to the storyline with this arc, the engaging dialogue, and the fantastic artwork and layouts all comes together for a pretty strong experience as a single issue and part of the larger world that Marguerite Bennett has been creating here for almost 120 issues between the two books. It’s a solid entry that gives us a look at the scale of power that Black Adam has here and I cannot say enough how much I love Richard Ortiz’s presentation of him in addition to just about every other main character int he book.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: November 17th, 2017
MSRP: $0.99
