[Editor’s note: This review may contain spoilers.]
Writer: Hope Larson
Artists: Chris Wildgoose, Jon Lam & Mat Lopes
Summary
Penguin’s son uses his technology to mind control the citizens of Burnside.
Positives
The cover by Chris Wildgoose is great. It looks like a movie poster which is cool. I like the placement of all the characters and it’s drawn well.
The interior art features pencils by Wildgoose, inks by Jon Lam and colors by Mat Lopes. As usual, it’s really strong work. The characters are all expressive and have a distinct look. There’s a lot of interesting and fun choices with the background especially in terms of color.
I like Ethan, or Blacksun, as a villain. There’s a drama queen element that is funny but makes him dangerous. His plan is to control everyone which is interesting. The issue is playing with some of the ideas that Demolition Man did. If control is taken away from us, would the world be a safer place? Or is free will more important?
I like that the issue doesn’t end in a big fight. There’s a couple of cool chase scenes that I like a lot but Babs outsmarts Ethan while using his ego to her advantage. I like when intelligence and strategy saves the day over brute force.
Negatives
I’m not sure why Ethan’s technology doesn’t work on Batgirl. To his knowledge, he never even tries to control her or Penguin. That element seems weird to me. Babs is insanely smart so maybe her brain is just too much for Ethan or there’s some kind of technology in her cowl that blocks it.
Verdict
This is a really solid issue and a fun conclusion to this story. The art is great with some really cool chase scenes. I like Ethan’s villainous scheme and how Babs stops it. It’s a fun read; I recommend checking this issue out.
