Dark Circle Comics 2016
Written by Adam Christopher & Chuck Wendig
Illustrated by Drew Johnson, Ray Snyder & Al Barrionuevo
Coloured by Kelly Fitzpatrick
Lettered by Rachel Deering
It’s always interesting when you genderswap a character and then retroactively create a new history for them. In this case while it seems to borrow from Miss Liberty we are talking about the American Revolution and a woman of great power being forged in a time of war. I think what I am really enjoying about this however is the way Adam is telling this story. From the flashbacks to the present we’re getting a complete origin story as it both unfolds and as she remembers her life. Plus what they kids are doing with the interiors and the clues they’ve been giving tying to the past and present it really all comes together to make this an exceptional read.
What Adam also made me do this issue was think about women in history. It’s funny that up until the Church officially came into being women were feared, revered and not only prominently led nations but also were respected, more so than ever since. The men’s reaction to both the women we see this issue, in 1776 mind you, just showcases the backslide they took.
When we hit Washington DC in the present with our time lost heroine and the intrepid Detective things well they get incredibly interesting. Female duo’s have this way of either being Lucy & Ethel or Thelma & Louise it’s like a fallback instead of forging a new path. Adam doesn’t take either route with them here thankfully instead it’s completely fun, action packed, suspenseful and has just the right amount of humour. Just when you think the Detective is out of her league things switch and you are left with this whole what the heck is going vibe. It’s great because while nothing is what it seems everything is going according to someone’s plan.
Oh our Special Agent is indeed a boys club kind of brutish a$$hat pissing of the Captain trying to throw his weight around. It’s great for a number of reasons really and among them in my mind is that the Captain is more likely to side with her Detective and keep the Agents out of the loop and work against them at some point in time. Either that or lend some form of support in other ways to shove back in his face. You never want to make enemies when you don’t have to and certainly not in such a manner as this it will come back to bite you in the tushy.
Now i’m pretty impressed with a number of things that happen this issue. I couldn’t have expected things to happen this fast, furious and in such incredible ways. The way the Agents are able to locate and track the assets, well one asset and one detective, where the detective takes our heroine and how this issue ends all of it is the kind of stuff that reminds you why we love the industry, that we can suspend a little disbelief and realize how far technology has come from when I first started reading comics.
I’m a huge fan of the style of artwork we see here. The attention to detail throughout is superbly done from the facial expressions to the use of backgrounds all of it really helps to bring forth emotion from the reader. The use of pages and panel layouts are expertly done to keep the flow moving in concert with the pace of the story.
Dark Circle Comics characters are back, better and stronger than ever!