Dv8: Gods and Monsters #7

“Head to Wall” (No Spoilers)

Even though Dv8 is not part of World’s End, the end of the world theme seems to be prevalent here. Brian Wood and Rebekah Isaac’s take on Wildstorm group of deviants nears its conclusion as the situation escalates in this issue.

There was great build-up in this issue towards the battle that took place but ultimately I felt it was glazed over too quickly. After seeing the intense battle last issue, I just didn’t feel that this one was as epic as it should’ve been. I think part of it is because the story is starting to wrap-up and there’s still some story elements Wood obviously wants to cover so we didn’t spend much time on the battle.

Dv8: Gods and Monsters #6

“Teenage Riot” (No Spoilers)

This was the issue I was waiting for! We’ve had some great setup with some action here and there but here we finally get a huge battle in this issue. Brian Wood’s storytelling and Rebekah Isaac’s art continue to be married perfectly into this incredible story.

Good storytelling is about balance. As we’ve progressed through the series I think for the most part this creative team has kept a good balance. Some issues read a little slower than I would’ve liked but they were usually followed up by something really cool. But after straddling the fence for so long we finally come to an action heavy issue. I finally get to see Bliss’ tribe in action (not a spoiler, it’s in the solicit). Although, I won’t say which deviant she decides to go after. It is beautifully done and had some amazing fight scenes throughout. I can safely say Isaacs has no problem drawing huge battle scenes. I can’t wait to see what else she’s got in the last two issues.

Dv8: Gods and Monsters #5

“The Beautiful People” (No Spoilers)

We’re almost done with the re-introduction of the Dv8 gang. It was apparent from the start that this was what Wood was going to do. For the most part, I think he’s done a good job of it. However, I’ve felt some of the re-introductions have been stronger than others.

Here we focus on Sublime and Evo. It’s interesting that Wood decided to put these two in an issue together but if he hadn’t, all eight issues of this series would’ve been taken up by a character. As it stands, it seems that only the last issue will focus on all of them (I realize issue 1 did, but it used Copycat as the main character to do it). Fiona Staples’ beautiful cover is a perfect summary of this issue concerning these two characters. I don’t remember too much about either character so it was nice to focus on them a little. Although, I think ultimately Sublime gets more of a focus than Evo.

Dv8: Gods and Monsters #4

“Calm Like a Bomb” (No Spoilers)

Ok, now we’re back on track with this issue! The series had slowed down a little bit, especially last issue, but now we’ve got an issue centered on Threshold. Did anyone really think we’d get a slow issue dealing with Threshold? I think not!

Since he first appeared in the original Gen 13 mini-series Threshold has always been a very interesting character to me. He’s psychotic but he’s well justified in being this way I think. He saw his parents murdered in front of him when he was just a kid. He was raised by Project Genesis to be a killer. And he had Ivana Baiul as a lover once upon a time, something I think would drive anyone crazy. He’s also a very angry character which means he could snap at any moment and believe me, snap he does.