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GEN 13 #69
"Failed Universe Part 2 of 2"
Highly Recommended (9/10)
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DC Comics/Wildstorm Productions
Writer: Adam Warren
Pencils: Yanick Paquette
Inks: Andrew Pepoy
Colors: Randy Mayor, Larry Molinar, Darlene Royer & David Settlow
Letters: Jenna Garcia
Editor: Jeff Mariotte
Price: $2.50 US/$4.25 CAN |
Something in my subconscious just tells me I shouldn't be enjoying Gen 13 this much, but with Warren at the helm, this book has become something quite special. This issue combines the wild and mad style of The Authority with the superteen hijinks of Gen 13 for a surprisingly effective story, one that focuses in on the relationship between Grunge and Roxy in a way that is full of humor and painful reality as well. Paquette does the book proud as well, delivering incredible human forms and some great visuals of the Carrier and strange goings-on onboard, and the result is a creative team that I would follow on just about any book, even one where I dislike the base concept as much as Gen 13.
Grunge has clearly been Warren's favorite
character from all the attention he has gotten in this book, and while I
generally didn't care much for the character, Warren's understanding of him has
changed my mind. Where I see a stereotypical dumb bohunk, Warren sees room for
explanation, especially in his dysfunctional relationship with Roxy, who is too
smart, too pretty and too good for him. The pain that Roxy feels this issue as
her denial fails her is incredibly real, and I love that Warren manages to
convey that without making Grunge into a bad guy. He's not mean to Roxy, he's
just too stupid to know any better. Even Shen is presented as somewhat amoral in
her lust rather than out to hurt Roxy.
It seems clear that Warren understands all the characters here, whether it's his main players like Roxy and Grunge or guest stars like Shen and the Engineer. Like Paul Jenkins on the recent Wildstorm Summer Special, Warren captures the downtime vision of the Authority, and we see what people this far removed from humanity do for fun. Crashing the unreal world of The Authority into the relatively real world of Gen 13 makes for an interesting tone to the whole issue. Even as the baby universes and "intelligent" Grunge's dialogue seems a perfect fit for The Authority, Roxy's dialogue and reactions fit well into Gen 13. The result is an effective crossover of
two titles, with the benefit of being contained within a single title and not
requiring the reading of another. What most impresses me is that Warren takes an
enormous problem, the potential destruction of the Carrier, and turns it into
something that allows him to examine the psychological underpinnings of the
Roxy-Grunge relationship.
I haven't generally been as impressed with this title since the very first Warren issue, which he illustrated as well. Yanick Paquette and Andrew Pepoy have made me reconsider, as their work here is absolutely top notch. Big and grand visions in the style of The Authority and strong character interaction lets them play to all the strengths of the story, and everything from storytelling to anatomy is simply gorgeous. After Gambit, I was convinced that Paquette's work was not to my taste, but it seems clear from his work here and on Codename: Knockout that it wasn't
his work that was lacking, but the work of finishes and colors at Marvel that
were to blame.
With Wildcats, The Authority and other new books being launched as a mature readers line from Wildstorm, and rumors that this book is coming to an end, I hope that this creative team will pick up somewhere else, or find a way to relaunch Gen 13. Stormwatch and Wildcats were both once extremely generic properties as well, and they have spawned innovative super-heroics. With a little time, proper positioning and Warren's vision, it seems like Gen 13 could pull off the same thing.
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