By Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti, Dan Jurgens & Gordon Purcell (DC Comics)
ISBN 1-84576-482-X
One of the key set pieces of Infinite Crisis (ISBN13: 978-1-4012-0959-9) was the destruction of the city of Blüdhaven by the Society of super-villains, using the toxic monster Chemo as a high-altitude bomb.
One Year Later: The surviving population now huddle as dispossessed refugees around the ruined remnants, with Federal agents and US soldiers harassing or interning them, whilst undertaking secret missions in the poisonous and – oddly – radioactive rubble. Metagene mutations and other monstrosities are common, but well-meaning and determined superheroes are still being ordered to stay away by their own government.
Within the devastated city limits the enigmatic civil servant Father Time has his own draconian agenda, but subversive malcontents such as the Atomic Knights are sabotaging his plans, whilst among the dispossessed of the shanty-town outside the city walls new heroes with proud, Liberty-Loving and tradition-steeped names like Firebrand and Uncle Sam are no longer willing to accept oppressive government rule – especially when it’s their own.
This highly politicised drama is an intriguing vehicle designed to relaunch the Quality Comics heroes known as the Freedom Fighters into the new DC universe, with guest shots from the Teen Titans and Green Lantern plus the inevitable return of a long-lost hero to the fold, and as such is impressively ambitious. However, the events often seem to run away from scripters Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti, and there’s an inescapable sense of confusion that spoils the show a little. It is however very engagingly illustrated by Dan Jurgens, Gordon Purcell and Palmiotti wearing his inker’s outfit.
Collected from the six-issue miniseries this book also ends on an unsatisfactorily unfinished note, as that series was designed as a springboard into other projects. If you followed Infinite Crisis this is a diverting side-story you’d probably enjoy, but I suspect its intrinsic merits will be lost on any casual readers.
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