DCU Comic Book Reviews

UNCLE SAM & THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS #8

Liberty And Justice For All

April 2007

Written by Justin Grey & Jimmy Palmiotti

Pencils by Daniel Acuña

Inks by Daniel Acuña

Cover by Daniel Acuña

Synopsis

Uncle Sam has just arrived in the nation’s capital to inform the public that President Knight is actually a robot.  In response, Gonzo sends out his meta-human civil defense team to destroy Uncle Sam.  However, the Freedom Fighters come to the rescue.  Elsewhere, Father Time approaches Gonzo.  Father Time knows that Gonzo was sent to Earth to “tenderize the world before everyone dies.”  Father Time puts Gonzo into a prison and then disappears along with Replicant.  Meanwhile, the Freedom Fighters have won the battle and will continue to fight the war.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

S.H.A.D.E. = Super Human Advanced Defense Executive

This was a very good ending to a mini-series that I have enjoyed, mostly, even though there are moments that have been a little too over-the-top for my tastes.  Luckily, this issue doesn’t fall into that trap; the events are handled believably but were still on the grand scale of ass kicking.  The best bits were the way the average citizen got involved in the fight without overpowering the meta-humans in the fight.  In fact, it leads to the best splash of the entire series, the arrival of the Freedom Fighters. 

I am uncertain how to take the revelation that Father Time was manipulating events and that the outcome to the story is the one that he wanted.  It retroactively changes all of the events and all of Father Time’s motives that we have read up to now.  I will give Gray and Palmiotti credit and assume this was the plan from the beginning.  I will need to re-read the series and see if there are hints that might suggest what he was up to.  Otherwise, it somewhat comes across as a last minute change.  Moreover, it casts a bad light on Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters since the technically did not win the battle; Father Time put them in position to win.

The ending pages with the Freedom Fighters at the table also didn’t read that well, probably because it didn’t seem to make much sense (or at least to me).  I understand that Gray and Palmiotti we’re going for the bait and switch tactic by having Uncle Sam first decline the offer, then changing his mind at the last minute.  It just didn’t work for me; I always pictured Uncle Sam as someone who would always lead the charge rather than sitting back.  I also did not like the characterization of Phantom Lady; I thought she had grown enough not to get drunk like, especially in a celebratory dinner.  I suppose you can say she was doing it because of her father, but she has known for some time her dad was dead. 

The biggest thing about this book is less the plot than Father Time’s revelation regarding the source of Gonzo:  a probe for the Shadow Demons (who, I think are affiliated with the Anti-Monitors).  If this is correct, these events seemingly tie into whatever “52” means and to the upcoming Countdown series and whatever else that DC is planning for the next year or so. 

 

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