Reviews

This is the final issue of this six part miniseries so obviously this is not an issue you can just pick-up and read on its own. If you’ve been reading this miniseries all along, like I have, then you probably found the ending to be satisfactory but not spectacular.

Looking back at the miniseries, as a whole, I can see now that writer Brian Azzarello was just trying to fit too much into six issues. Don’t get me wrong I love his whole idea for a pulp-based universe separate from the regular DC universe. A universe populated by extraordinary men like Doc Savage and masked vigilantes like Batman but no one with true superhuman powers. I’m sorry the idea didn’t take off. I believe there are several reasons why the idea failed including the misguided revamp of the Spirit, the fact that the stories in the two ongoing titles didn’t have any relation to the story in this central title and the bi-monthly release schedule of this series. As for this title Azzarello just tried to accomplish way too much in one miniseries. I mean, he introduces us to no less then five major heroes, their supporting cast which in some cases is quite large, this universe’s main criminal cartel and some of their major operatives. All the while he is also trying to give us a sense of what this new universe is like and lay out the plot for the first major power play by the criminal cartel the Golden Tree. This first miniseries needed to be much narrower in scope with the ongoing series picking up where this first miniseries ends. Then this universe could have been expanded gradually in the two ongoing series.

DC should give this idea a rest for a while then give it another try in a couple of years. If this idea is better executed, next time, I think it can work. In the end, all I can say about this issue is if you have not been reading this miniseries all along then there is no reason to start now. If, on the other hand, you have already read all or most of the rest of First Wave then go ahead and finish it off it is worth finishing.

Keith Forney