Cyberforce? Are you kidding me? Cyberforce? Are there any Cyberforce fans left out there? This property has been defunct at Image/Top Cow for a while now, and though I understand a comeback of sorts is planned, I just don't see the purpose of this one-shot. Sure, it garners Top Cow a little attention to jump-start the property, but ultimately, these two teams just don't mesh well together at all. I'll give writer Joe Kelly some credit, though, as there is clearly an effort to develop some connections among the characters. But ultimately, this is a Cyberforce story, and I don't know the characters well enough to care what becomes of them. There's not nearly enough background on the Top Cow heroes in order for the reader to get behind them.
The JLA detects a crisis in Budapest, and upon their arrival, they discover a quartet of cybernetically enhanced warriors doing battle with a bunch of cybernetically resurrected corpses. Introductions are made as the two teams decimate the ranks of the techno-zombie army, and the Justice Leaguers soon discover the mindless baddies are doing the bidding of Ripclaw, one-time member of Cyberforce turned villain, thanks to a twisted computer virus. Ripclaw has discovered alien technology called Godtech, the same tech responsible for the creation of Cyberforce, and he sees it as a doomsday weapon, but Velocity, Ripclaw's former student and lover, sees it as a means to restore him back to his honorable self.
Mahnke's been bringing the dark, intense worlds of Gotham City and the Justice League Elite to life as of late, so he was a smart choice for a story involving Cyberforce. There's just one problem -- his style really doesn't come through as well as it could. Instead, we're met with a style that resembles that of Cyberforce creator Marc Silvestri. I can't tell if it's the penciller making the adjustment himself, or if inker Norm Rapmund's influence is creating that result. I suspect it's the latter, as Mahnke is without his usually inking collaborator, Tom Nguyen, on this project. The visuals aren't nearly as polished as they could be, and some of the action doesn't unfold clearly, notably those scenes in which Ripclaw and a giant facsimile of the villain are doing battle with the heroes at the same time.
There was a lot about this script that I appreciated. I was pleased to find that Silvestri's obvious Wolverine knockoff, Ripclaw, had been turned into a villain, and Kelly's efforts to develop connections between the two radically different sets of heroes -- notably Velocity/Martian Manhunter and Batman/Cyblade -- were clearly meant to humanize the characters. They fall flat, though. We don't know enough about Cyblade to buy into the respect she and Batman develop for one another, and the connection between Velocity and J'Onn is forced.
Unfortunately, trying to get these two teams of heroes on common ground ultimately proves to be a mistake. These heroes are just too different, and they represent different things in the world of super-hero comics. I'm surprised Kelly didn't play up those differences more. There's a hint of it in the interplay between Superman and Stryker, but that barely whetted my appetite. 3/10
