Warren Ellis brings his descriptive dialogue and attitude to the world of DC's super-hero icons, and it certainly makes for a different take on thes familiar characters. Some might complain Ellis's interpretations aren't true to the characters, but I find it hard to begrudge the shifts in characterization when it makes for some entertaining and snappy dialogue. It's also a pleasure to see Butch (Ruse) Guice back in action, though I suspect these efforts might not be new ones. I could very well be wrong, but the overall tone of the art seems more like Guice's work during his Resurrection Man phase, as opposed to the cleaner quality we saw a little bit later in his career. Overall, this is standard but solid super-hero fare.
Lexcorp employees are throwing themselves from the ledges of tall buildings, and not even Superman can save them all. That leaves Clark Kent and Lois Lane, husband-and-wife reporting team for The Daily Planet, to get to the bottom of this unusual rash of suicides and find a common thread. Meanwhile, a bizarre murder in Gotham attracts the immediate attention of federal authorities under the direction of President Lex Luthor, and that attracts the attention of the Batman. And on Themscyria, Princess Diana, AKA Wonder Woman, welcomes a delegation of academics -- who arrive just in time to witness a tragedy of unimaginable proportions.
Guice's artwork certainly is in keeping with the overall tense and dire tone of the plot. Ellis incorporates government conspiracies and professional paranoia into the story, and Guice's gritty style here is definitely apt. Guice's efforts on this comic are far more reminiscent of his work in the 1990s -- such the afore-mentioned Resurrection Man and Action Comics -- than the more polished line art we saw on CrossGen's Ruse. Perhaps it's because he's not paired with his Ruse inker, but that -- and references to past DC continuity, such as Luthor's presidential term -- lead me to believe this is a stock story that's been released from a drawer after a time. It's not that Guice's work isn't strong. I'm ust making an observation about a variation in his style in the greater context of his career.
I would imagine some readers might complain that Clark, Lois and Perry don't seem themselves in this story. The banter's sharper and more biting than usual, and at one point, Clark "sounds" a little British. I find it easy to forgive those inconsistencies in character, because the pace and wit of the banter is so entertaining. I also enjoyed watching Lois practice actual journalism as opposed to a comic-book version of the profession that requires the reporter to be in the right place at the impossible time or commit break-and-enter in order to get a page-one headline.
Ellis's take on the Batman is a strong one, but that should come as no surprise. The extreme personality, drive and darkness inherent in the character plays to Ellis's strengths as a writer. Overall, we barely have the beginnings of a plot here, so it's dialogue and atmosphere that carry the story in this first chapter. 7/10
