"Most Wanted, Part 2"
Writer: Judd Winick
Artist: Carlos D'Anda
Publisher: D.C. Comics
Plot:
After a careful study of a store's video footage we see the Outsiders and John Walsh are able to uncover the identity of a man who abducted a young girl. We than see "America's Most Wanted" is used to locate this criminal, and the Outsider are able to bust up yet another child abduction ring, but Grace remains frustrated by the idea that they haven't captured the man in charge. The investigation than takes a personal turn when Roy's daughter Lian is kidnapped.
Comments:
The book opens strong with a nice little moment where a video tape is analysed, and we see the actual abduction take place, but the investigation takes a serious downturn when instead of continuing the trend of studying the clues for answers, Judd Winick opts for the easy solution, as thanks to comic book science the Outsiders are able to pull up a fingerprint that was placed on a display case three months back. Now I don't mind writers taking shortcuts to get to the interesting sections of the story, but I do find it annoying when they do it in such a obvious manner, and when it asks the readers to simply accept a statement at face value instead of actually answering the question of how the heck could they pull a finger print off a counter that had been wiped down countless times. Plus the simple fact of the matter is that now that this trick has been let out of the bag, it leaves one to question why the heck isn't John Walsh more excited by the prospect of using Indigo's talents on more cases, as if she can pull up such useful information from a tainted crime scene, than he should be giddy by the notion of what she could do on the other cases. I mean this is a man who has made it his life's work to bring criminals to justice, and yet he barely registers any emotional response when he's given a glimpse at the perfect crime fighting technology. In fact if I didn't know better one would think John Walsh's guest-appearance was little more than a handy plot device, that use readers are supposed to forget about once we've seen the Outsider's make use of it to advance their investigation.
A rather interesting cover image, as while I realize that it's supposed to reflect Grace's frustration, and personal experience with missing child cases, I'm not quite sure this was the best visual to sell the idea, as it looks more like she's attacking one of the more effective campaigns when it comes to the location of these missing children. As for the interior art, Carlos D'Anda turns in some pretty effective art, as while it's a little rough around the edges, it does some lovely work on the big impact moments, such as the page where the Outsiders smash their way into the warehouse, or Grace's rage as she rips a steel door clear out of the wall. The visual impact of the final page development is also nicely presented by the art, as one can't help but be concern for Lian after we get a look at the final page. I am a little concerned that this book does seem to be missing a regular artist though now that Tom Raney's gone exclusive for Marvel.
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