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dantastic's review
3.0
Manhunter defies Bones and heads south of the border to investigate a mysterious pharmaceutical company, meeting Blue Beetle and the Suicide Squad in the process. But has she bitten off more than she can chew?
Okay, this is the end of the Marc Andreyko Manhunter series. It's a shame too since it reads like it was just getting started.
First off, I just didn't enjoy this one as much. Kate left behind most of the supporting cast I've grown to know and love when she went down to Mexico. Granted, Blue Beetle, the Birds of Prey, and the Suicide Squad give Kate many opportunities to showcase her personality but it's just not the same.
The subplots involving Cammie, Dylan, and Mark Shaw were all okay but I would have liked to have seen how things turned out. Luckily, there's a Manhunter volume 6 collection the 8 page Manhunter backup stories published after the series ended.
The two-part Whatever Happened to the Manhunter story in the back of the book was actually more enjoyable than the main story for me. Ramsey gay? Kate shacking up with a man fifteen years younger than her? Obsidian mentoring a young group of legacy super heroes? Great stuff!
Okay, this is the end of the Marc Andreyko Manhunter series. It's a shame too since it reads like it was just getting started.
First off, I just didn't enjoy this one as much. Kate left behind most of the supporting cast I've grown to know and love when she went down to Mexico. Granted, Blue Beetle, the Birds of Prey, and the Suicide Squad give Kate many opportunities to showcase her personality but it's just not the same.
The subplots involving Cammie, Dylan, and Mark Shaw were all okay but I would have liked to have seen how things turned out. Luckily, there's a Manhunter volume 6 collection the 8 page Manhunter backup stories published after the series ended.
The two-part Whatever Happened to the Manhunter story in the back of the book was actually more enjoyable than the main story for me. Ramsey gay? Kate shacking up with a man fifteen years younger than her? Obsidian mentoring a young group of legacy super heroes? Great stuff!
lunchlander's review
2.0
This latest Manhunter run, the last of the regular book, didn't click with me the way the others have. Gaydos and Andreyko did nice work, but the story seemed a little too ambitious for six issues, and the two-issue wrap-up had a weird, jarringly happy tone that seemed at odds with the more realistic tone of the book.
Andreyko was great at introducing new elements and ratcheting up the tension, but that tension needed payoff, and all too often, the payoff was delayed or removed altogether by the cruel whims of the market. After 12 issues, you can blame the market for that, after 30-some, when it was clear that the book was always going to struggle a bit, the blame lies at least partly with the creators.
Still glad I read it, still very much enjoyed the rest of the series, and still glad to see Andreyko returning to the character with 8-page backup stories soon, but this one was definitely the weakest offering of the bunch.
Andreyko was great at introducing new elements and ratcheting up the tension, but that tension needed payoff, and all too often, the payoff was delayed or removed altogether by the cruel whims of the market. After 12 issues, you can blame the market for that, after 30-some, when it was clear that the book was always going to struggle a bit, the blame lies at least partly with the creators.
Still glad I read it, still very much enjoyed the rest of the series, and still glad to see Andreyko returning to the character with 8-page backup stories soon, but this one was definitely the weakest offering of the bunch.
sherpawhale's review
4.0
I'm going to miss this series. So much. It was never afraid to face issues of race, sexism, immigration, sexuality... you name it, really. Don't like politics in your comics? Don't read. But be aware that everything is about politics (pssst Batman hates guns).
I have to say, the standout moment for me was Ramsey's great-grandfather revealing to Ramsey that the puppy he'd bought for him was actually a cyborg. Instead of any preface, he just ripped off the dog's head. Classic. Buh-bye, childhood!
And buy-bye, this workhorse of a series. Managed to bring in a lot of the background DCU while still keeping its own West Coast, LA vibe. It's been real.
I have to say, the standout moment for me was Ramsey's great-grandfather revealing to Ramsey that the puppy he'd bought for him was actually a cyborg. Instead of any preface, he just ripped off the dog's head. Classic. Buh-bye, childhood!
And buy-bye, this workhorse of a series. Managed to bring in a lot of the background DCU while still keeping its own West Coast, LA vibe. It's been real.
nickpalmieri's review
I have some very mixed thoughts on this series as a whole, but this volume was definitely my favorite.
Volumes 2-4 were essentially an ensemble book with stories focusing equally on all cast members, which was great because those characters were the best part of the series, but also bad because those stories spun their wheels and never went anywhere interesting. On the flip side, while Kate's stories were the most interesting, the plots were too tied into what was going on elsewhere in the DCU: villains would show up and leave seemingly at random, with little focus on their motivations.
This volume mostly sidelined the supporting cast to focus on a Kate story, which completely began and ended in this volume. This was exactly the type of story I always wanted from this book. Solid street-level espionage and legal drama, dealing with some serious real-world issues in a slightly over-the-top superhero way.
The final two-issue story jumped ahead about 15 years, which was an odd choice, but one that really allowed Andreyko to give some closure to the supporting cast. I especially loved all the stuff with Kate's son.
While the story was definitely more to my liking here, I wonder how much of my change of opinion was due to the art by Gaydos and Villarrubia. They're leagues better than Pina and his colorists were (Pina was never bad, just not particularly interesting in storytelling or style).
So, yeah, I'm glad I read the whole series so I could get to these issues. Much higher quality all around, imo. I'll definitely read the continuation from the Streets of Gotham back-ups!
Volumes 2-4 were essentially an ensemble book with stories focusing equally on all cast members, which was great because those characters were the best part of the series, but also bad because those stories spun their wheels and never went anywhere interesting. On the flip side, while Kate's stories were the most interesting, the plots were too tied into what was going on elsewhere in the DCU: villains would show up and leave seemingly at random, with little focus on their motivations.
This volume mostly sidelined the supporting cast to focus on a Kate story, which completely began and ended in this volume. This was exactly the type of story I always wanted from this book. Solid street-level espionage and legal drama, dealing with some serious real-world issues in a slightly over-the-top superhero way.
The final two-issue story jumped ahead about 15 years, which was an odd choice, but one that really allowed Andreyko to give some closure to the supporting cast. I especially loved all the stuff with Kate's son.
While the story was definitely more to my liking here, I wonder how much of my change of opinion was due to the art by Gaydos and Villarrubia. They're leagues better than Pina and his colorists were (Pina was never bad, just not particularly interesting in storytelling or style).
So, yeah, I'm glad I read the whole series so I could get to these issues. Much higher quality all around, imo. I'll definitely read the continuation from the Streets of Gotham back-ups!
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