I quite enjoyed Final Crisis and thought it was a well done cross over. As with most of these events there are things that change and things that come out of them. Post Final Crisis there were some mini series that picked up and ran with a few characters. Out now in trade I thought I would hit each one.
INK
The new Tattooed Man is not a straight forward super villain as we discover towards the end of the crisis. Mark Richards ends up doing more than just trying to protect his family, he makes a decision and joins in the fight. In the post crisis world he is back in his neighborhood of Liberty Hill which is no clean happy suburb. He’s hooked up with the Justice League and he’s fighting crime, maybe not globally, but locally he’s making a difference. He seems to be having a bit of trouble shedding all of his past and he gets a bit more violent than he might need to be. also he is having trouble controlling his tattoos. As the story moves forward Mark ends up finding his own way to fight crime and in the end is truly his own man.
INK is a character driven piece and as Mark is trying to rediscover himself his family is also making adjustments. And while it is a cool superhero driven tale it resonates with real problems people face every day.
Eric Wallace nailed it and I would love to see more work from him. Fabrizio Fiorentino’s art is really cool, a painted style with great colors.
RUN!
This takes a nowhere bad guy who was barely a blip and post Crisis has street cred to spare with having played a part in the death of the martian Manhunter. He’s on the run from every good guy out there and in order to keep safe he keeps looking to increase his power. By the end of the book he’s a major player and The Human Flame is a name that doesn’t even fit any more.
This doesn’t have the depth of INK, but the action is high and its a real fun read. Matthew Struges sure seemed to have fun writing it. Freddie Williams III came through on the art, as always a wonder to behold. All in all a fun read.
DANCE
Another group of people I didn’t know existed pre Final Crisis, this group of bored cos players with a wealthy backer make a move to the big leagues in this story. Motivated by fame and fun they have some seriously scewed sense of what a hero is. They end up doing the right thing eventually, but the ride to that point is a blast.
Joe Casey has various nods to modern pop culture from Twitter like postings to the vapid party people. It’s as much a laugh at modern twenty somethings as it is a story of young heroes, and that is what really makes it work. A variety of artists at work here and it is a damn fine looking book. Again, this is loads of fun.
I haven’t read Escape yet, but will add that to the mix when I do.
