Category: DC

DC never fails to amaze me with the way they milk their major events with a plethora of meaningless, related mini-series.  Salvation Run is one such series, but in this case the cow is dry.

It’s painfully obvious that the setup for this book was: “We need to put out more books.  Let’s send all the villains to another planet, let ’em fight, and then have them all return back to Earth at the end.  7 issues, $21.  Bang!”

In other words, Salvation Run is a pointless cash grab with virtually no impact on the characters or the DC Universe.

I approached this series with some optimism due to it being written by Bill Willingham, creator of the inspired Vertigo series Fables.  However, the premise here is much too pedestrian to leverage his talents.  Bill wisely departed this dog after the second issue, turning the reins over to his protege, Matthew Sturges (these days known as Lila Sturges).  Hey, it’s a paycheck, right?

The pencils are by Mike Chen.  Let’s be polite: I am very much not a fan of his style.  I find his work to be very stiff, and his character poses lack  dynamism.  Dare I say it?  I find his work boring.  See example (right)!

The only thing that distinguishes this series is the occasional brutality these villains exhibit.  The beat the HELL out of each other, to the point of killing their own (don’t worry, I’m sure they’ll be resurrected, they always are).  The villains seem to have a dislike of anyone with a visible brain.  Witness the Joker’s smashing of Psimon’s cranial containment unit, and the way Grodd uses The Brain to pummel and kill his adversary Monsieur Moolah!

I have to admit I did love seeing DC return to the days of putting a gorilla on a cover to boost sales.  I can just hear the editorial conference: “If one gorilla is good, TWO is even better!”  Then again, look at the art – yuck!

To add insult to injury, the last issue costs more than the rest and features not one but TWO terrible covers (see carousel):  The first, by Chen, features a wretched, bloody Luthor – I mean look at that face! You could live on his thick upper lip – and the variant features an equally bloody, disgusting Joker.  It’s truly cringe worthy, but when you realize it’s by the once genius Neal Adams, I just wanted this thing to be over.

Rating:   1 Star!