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GEN 13 #68
"Failed Universe Part 1 of 2"
Recommended (8/10)
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DC Comics/Wildstorm Productions
Writer: Adam Warren
Pencils: Yanick Paquette
Inks: Andrew Pepoy
Colors: Randy Mayor & David Settlow
Letters:
GH & Jenna Garcia
Editor: Jeff Mariotte
Price: $2.50 US/$4.25 CAN |
While I absolutely loved
Warren's first regular issue on this title, the issues since that time have not
been as entertaining to me. However, the one thing I have to give the book is
that it's not your run-of-the-mill super-hero title... it's more of a teenage
adventure story with powers, and this issue is definitely told in that vein.
Most of it revolves around examining Grunge (again), with a variety of clever
gags and references to pop culture, and a tie-in to a one-panel appearance that
Grunge had in The Authority which could have serious ramifications for his
relationship with Roxy. Though this will never be one of my favorite titles, I
have to say that issues like this one and some of Warren's other stories may be
some of the best teen-marketed pop comics on the market.
Another thing I discovered in this issue is that I have seriously misjudged Yanick Paquette, based largely on a lackluster run on Gambit. This guy has got serious game, and he shows it off here with inks by Pepoy, delivering distinctive looks for each of the characters and fantastic panel layouts. This is a dialogue-heavy issue, and while Gen 13 is too focused on hot bodies to be
called "talking heads," this is about as close as it gets. Paquette handles it
nicely, expressing the attitudes of the characters through their body language
and delivering a fantastic setting that mixes trendy teen fashion and outrageous
super-hero style technology and weirdness.
That's probably the best thing that Warren
has brought to the table with this book as well. The Gen 13 kids are weirdness
magnets, trying to live life like reasonably normal streetwise teens but dealing
with strange threats and powers at the same time. This issue nicely encapsulates
that strange lifestyle, mixing analysis of a difficult relationship and fun at
the arcade and home with crusading super-heroes, telepathic programming and
sinister otherworldly threats. What Grunge does or doesn't do to the Authority
winds up being almost incidental, though... the conflict is seeing how his
relationship with Roxy is affected.
When you're writing a book that focuses on a younger age group, there's always the risk of sounding like Bob Haney's Teen Titans, and Warren seems to have steered clear of
that potential land-mine. I've reached the ripe old age of 30 now, and can't
really consider myself to have my finger on the pulse of the youth culture, but
for me at least Warren's dialogue and choice of entertainment for the kids rings
true. I do wish that Wildstorm would drop the visual "bleeping" of bad words,
since it's painfully obvious what the words are supposed to be anyway, and it
just interrupts the flow of the dialogue. The teenagers this book is aimed at
can handle a few bad words to go along with the sexuality that is part of the
book's atmosphere.
This is not a title aimed at me. I can't
relate to half of what the kids are going through, and I honestly don't find the
characters all that interesting. But much to my surprise, Warren and his
collaborators have taken what began as a flashy, empty calorie art book in the
1990s and turned it into a flashy, empty calorie book that is still relevant in
2001.
Email Randy Lander comments about this review. |
