Broken Frontier

When a tragedy from Vixen’s past is ripped open anew, it calls the heroine to Africa… and to death.

Long considered one of DC’s lower tier characters, Vixen still has her fans and the Justice League Unlimited animated series helped to garner her a few more. This miniseries, however, by G. Willow Wilson just may be the springboard to catapult the character into stardom.

In wrapping up an Intergang weapons smuggling case, the Justice League finds evidence that the death of Vixen’s mother was not what it appeared to be. Upon learning that her mother’s killers were never really brought to justice, Vixen sets out for Africa to remedy that situation – against the advice to Superman. Vixen is a superhero though, right? Surely she can handle a bunch of cheap gun runners… right?

Writer Wilson is still a relative newcomer to the world of comic books (although she has written other books, articles and essays for the mainstream press). Her other two comic book works are also under DC’s Vertigo mature readers line which makes Vixen: Return of the Lion her first work for a wider audience. Admittedly, the device used to get Vixen back to Africa ("Everything you knew was wrong!") is a very old and rather tired comic book cliché but the rest of the story takes off so well from the point that it is easy to forgive. Wilson’s work also, perhaps, skates the edges of stereotype as she places Vixen in an African society where women are not held on equal footing with men. The saving grace, though, is that Wilson treats the situation naturally rather than as an "Afterschool Special". When Vixen’s old friend teases her about finding a husband Vixen teases back rather than flying off the handle. Also, there is a sub-message here of Vixen’s anger and her abilities leading her to overconfidence. She is a superhero and it is obvious that she has come to believe that this means she can easily take down these evil men.

The art is provided by CAFU (Carlos Alberto Fernandez Urbano) and a better choice could not have been made. His work combines grace and lightness to the figures without sacrificing motion or impact with the action sequences. He also makes each and every face unique and wonderfully expressive whether that is Superman, Vixen’s friend, or the villain of the piece.

Whether you are a Vixen fan or not you might consider giving this mini-series a look. G. Willow Wilson has created a good start for what looks to be an interesting superhero story; a tale for a second stringer that takes a deeper look at the roots of the character, the place and the culture she came from, and the influence of her family on her life.