Dark Circle Comics 2017
Written by Ian Flynn
Pencilled by Kelsey Shannon
Inked by Ryan Jampole
Coloured by Matt Herms
Lettered by Jack Morelli
With kind hearts, an unwavering will to protect humanity and abilities beyond the average person's wildest dreams, it's no wonder why The Mighty Crusaders are so loved and adored by all--or at least almost by all...
Enter the Eliminators. A team of savage villains with unbelievable destructive powers who only have one goal in mind: ELIMINATE THE MIGHTY CRUSADERS!
Well this issue starts up right where we left off with the Eliminators showing up to take down the Mighty Crusaders. I like this because with no time passing it allows Ian to really tell the story the way he wants to as if it’s in real time. Before we get to the action however we get a moment of reflection from Steel Sterling. It’s an odd moment to have right before a huge battle to some I guess but Ian isn’t most people now is he? There is a method to the madness here and what that is is something you’ll have to read the book to find out.
Meanwhile we should get to the action. Now if you’ve been following along you know that the team hasn’t gelled with one another yet and a large part of that is the leadership of this team. While The Shield symbolically is the natural choice she still isn’t used to being in what she sees as the future and hasn’t tried making that connection with her teammates. It is a problem within the team and without proper communication things will not play out the way any of them anticipate. Then again trial by fire is an ancient tried and true method of getting ones feet wet in battle.
So given what has occurred and what is currently happening we won’t get into the meat and potatoes of the battle and instead talk about how well Ian has structured this book. I am enjoying the whole ebb & flow of what is happening within these pages as the story moves forward. The way information is released in the midst of battle and as we see other parts of the ongoing story come forth it would seem that all the moving parts from what we’ve been seeing are working concert with one another to form the bigger picture.
I love that Ian has managed to really infuse all of this into a what will become a single story in the not too distant future. Well that is provided they can survive their current endeavour with the Eliminators. So maybe just maybe it’s time for us to finally see what the most mysterious of the new members of the team has to offer here. Which is something I think we’ve all been looking forward to since her first appearance.
Kelsey, Ryan and Matt do some really solid work on the interiors here. While you cant tell it’s an Archie book based on the work it has more depth and darker stuff going on here. Hence the whole Dark Circle imprint. Still it has that bright vibrant look, tone and feel of a superhero book and that’s what we want to see. Bright colourful costumes are what’s missing in today’s modern comics so that we get them here is a blessing. The way page layouts are done so that we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows off a solid eye for storytelling. Yes I would like to see more backgrounds in use but then again what we see makes up for any moments that may be lacking.
This is everything I want in a superhero comic book it’s bright, dark and completely engrossing. This is how to make a modern day superhero book pure and simple.