Thursday, April 3, 2008

Review: The Twelve # 4 (Marvel Comics)


[Art by Chris Weston at left is not #4's cover.]

Marvel's solicitation copy for this issue reads, "As the savage murders continue, and members of the Twelve come under a cloud of suspicion, tensions flare, and hero faces off against hero! Plus, the unbelievable origin of underground secret agent Rockman!"

Maybe, but after reading this latest Joe Straczynski offering, I'm still really waiting for something of substance to happen. Chris Weston's art holds up very well as the series progresses, but it would be nice to see him get a chance to do a bit more with this disparate group of time-displaced WWII heroes than simply have them standing (or sitting) around talking.

We finally do get the lowdown on Rockman's origin and there's a page and a half of the Laughing Mask's first modern day attempt at heroics, but other than that, the issue primarily shows the entire group having a going away party for Mastermind Excello whose financial foresight allows him to peel away from the community house that the government has temporarily set up for them. This issue closes out with the Phantom Reporter's initial Daily Bugle article on the nature of old-school heroism versus the modern equivalent of gritty, dysfunctional heroism.

Or so it seems.

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