DCU Comic Book Reviews

MANHUNTER #34

Forgotten, Part 4

November 2008

Written by Marc Andreyko

Art by Michael Gaydos

Flashback by Brad Walker

Cover by Scott McDaniel

Synopsis

As part of investigating the deaths of immigrant women, Kate Spencer (aka Manhunter) infiltrates Vesetech Pharmaceuticals but encounters the Suicide Squad.  In Santa Barbara, Ramsey wants to know if he is a superhero after he stopped a truck.  His grandfather, Iron Munro, tries to explain to him that it was Thor, a robotic dog he got Ramsey to protect him.  Elsewhere, Dylan learns that his attacker is his ex-wife’s father.  Dylan manages to escape.  Meanwhile, Manhunter is able to get away from the Suicide Squad and find the Birds Of Prey.  Both groups explain to Manhunter that the Suicide Squad are working undercover at Vesetech to determine what the Crime Doctor is doing with the immigrant women.  Manhunter may have blown over 8 months worth of work.  The Birds of Prey are there to take Manhunter back to Los Angeles.  However, Manhunter, angry that nothing has been to save the dying women in 8 months, decides to go to Mexico to investigate further.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

It is a cliché when two superheroes (or superhero groups) get together.  It usually goes like this:  they fight each other, realize their mistake, and then band together to save the day.  While the first part of the cliché holds true in this issue when Manhunter and Multiplex fight for a little bit, I love the way Andreyko turns the rest of the cliché on its ear.  The groups do not get together.  In fact, the squad makes it clear that Manhunter’s interference was actually a hindrance and they really just want her out of there.  It is for this reason that I really enjoy this series; Andreyko may be writing a superhero comic, but he manages to infuse the book with a different sensibility so that it doesn’t seem like a standard superhero book.  And that’s a compliment.  Andreyko manages to walk that fine line, presenting a real world problem such as the deaths of immigrant women but finding a DCU answer with the experiments performed by the new Crime Doctor.  Plus, Andreyko also manages to explain how and why the murders keep happening with the role of the Suicide Squad, thus avoiding the basic question:  why would superheroes ignore things like this.  Well, they didn’t.  So there. 

For as much as I like this title, for some reason this issue feels a little off and I think part of that is the ratio of Manhunter to the other characters.  I am not complaining to get more Kate, but Andreyko is juggling a lot of characters and Dylan and Mark and Damon appear far too briefly (and where is Cameron?).  But I guess that is a sign of a damn good book:  I want more of these characters.  Twenty-two pages just isn’t enough. 

What exactly were Iron and Sandra supposed to tell or explain to Ramsey?  When Iron began his story, I thought he was going to explain about the dog.  Then they went into his relationship with Sandra, which dovetailed into her other son, and then just kinda ended.  It is like Andreyko got off track and wasn’t sure how to get it back on track so he just decided to jump the tracks altogether.  In fact, we still don’t understand how and why Iron gave Ramsey the dog in the first place, beyond the need for simple protection.

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