DC Comics 2018
Written by Robert Venditti
Pencilled by Eddy Barrows
Inked by Eber Ferreira
Coloured by Adriano Lucas
Lettered by Deron Bennett
Line up for this all-new maxiseries set on Earth X, where the Nazis won World War II! Twenty years after invading and occupying America, Germany wiped out all metahuman resistance, including the original Freedom Fighters. Fast-forward to the present day, and a new team of Freedom Fighters emerges to challenge the Nazi occupation once again. But if they’re to have any chance of victory, they’re going to need Uncle Sam-who disappeared after his original team was killed. The 12-part epic “Death of a Nation” storyline kicks off here!
While the premise of these heroes being on Earth X harkens back to the original run of the team. Though Uncle Sam recruited heroes from “our” Earth to go to that one was the original concept and one I wish had remained if I am honest. Here this is one based off the WB crossover event and I’m not sure how I feel about that right now because I am over the fact that DC is tending to merge their television universe with the comics universe. It really is both a cheap ploy to get fans of the show into comics while teasing long-time fans into grabbing the title too. So if this is going to be based off the show then I hope that characters like Firebrand (Rod), theRed Bee, Magno, Invisible Hood, Miss America and Neon the Unknown are used at some point or at least introduced.
I love Robert, his writing is always so gosh darn good and this is no exception. The opening is dynamic, eye catching and definitely attention grabbing. This naturally makes us want to see more and that there are only three members of the original Freedom Fighters alongside Jesse Owens who is a national hero in the eyes of the people. Also to see an army of those who are shown to be their first adversary in this book was beyond delightful. It never fails to amaze me just how darn good Robert is at structuring a story and how strong and powerful the characterisation is.
I was taken aback when I saw just how violent and bloody this book was. I know that this is comics but to see that imagery like we did kind of bothered me. Baron Blitzkrieg at least did all that off panel, with the exception of break the Red Bee’s back over his knee (long before Bane was created btw). I suppose that it was really Dollman’s visage that got to me. When we get to the second half of the story the tone and mood changes to something much more normal at least in comics but damn folks let’s try to lighten up on that bloody gore violence.
I love Eddy’s pencils he’s got a stellar eye for storytelling and his ability to manipulate the linework through it’s varying weights creating such striking attention to detail is hard to beat. Even through the violent moments it’s all got this amazing detail and it really does affect you. Of course it couldn’t do that without Eber and Adriano. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective is sensational. The way we see backgrounds utilised really expands the story exceptionally well. Adriano deserves his own shout out for the colour work here. They really add that punch that makes the book pop.
So I like the idea of what we see here and while we never do see the Ray, he’s mentioned as being gone, and Phantom Lady returns in the second half which makes me happy. Learning how long America has been under the German rule and getting this opportunity to experience the original idea all over again is fantastic! There is hope for this and it really is off to a killer start! With exceptionally good writing, story & plot development, pacing and characterisation and interior art that helps sell books The Freedom Fighters should have this resurgence and it is in the best hands possible.