Broken Frontier

The third miniseries spinning out of the events of DC Countdown is here and superheroes everywhere beware. The DC villains are united.

I cannot speak for the rest of the comic book community but I am totally hooked on all things Countdown and Crisis related, these books couldn’t come out soon enough for me. I’ve been diggin’ everything since the first issue of Identity Crisis and next week’s Villains United is no exception. From the always-enjoyable Birds of Prey writer Gail Simone and the H-E-R-O artistic team of Dale Eaglesham and Wade von Grawbadger, Villains United may not be the most intense issue but may just be the most fun read out of all the Crisis related comics so far, based on one simple comic book theory. That it is really cool when lots of villains team up. The miniseries kicks off with various and often wonderfully obscure villains throughout the DC universe being recruited to unite as one large villainous force by Talia & Doctor Psycho, two of the six members of the "Society" we saw meeting in the pages of DC Countdown. When Talia & Psycho go to recruit Catman he makes the bold move of declining their offer. However we soon learn that there is actually another contingent of villains united that have also gone to Catman to try to enlist him for their mysterious cause.

If you haven’t been reading Birds of Prey then you’ve been missing out on one of the most enjoyable superhero comics on the market and that is largely due to Gail Simone’s fun stories loaded with great characterization. Simone’s colorful dialogue is perfect for a comic all about over-the-top villains interacting with other villains so you need a writer that can capture the arrogant nature of a Deadshot or the quirkiness of a Ragdoll but is also able to tell a good story and set the stage for a larger picture that is slowly evolving.

Dale Eaglesham’s pencils are also a perfect fit for this type of story. Very reminiscent of a Tom Grummet, Eaglesham provides a wonderful clean and classic superhero style with fantastic inks by Grawbadger. Sno-Cone also does a tremendous job with coloring, which is so important to me. I’ve said often in reviews I love my superhero comics with lots of crisp and distinct colors, so many superhero comics today, especially at a certain other major publisher, feel the need to use one specific dark and murky color scheme on every single page throughout the comic.

Villains United is yet another strong chapter in DC’s epic Countdown event. So often over-hyped company crossovers and special events never live up to the anticipation, but issue after issue DC shows its competitors that a truly well told story with the right talent involved can be worth the thrifty consumer shelling out a few extra dollars every week.

-Glen Siegal