Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Art: Mike Avon Oeming
Publisher: Icon Comics
Plot: When the police gathered outside the home of the man who used to be Blackguard, they find the man's wife has armed herself with her husband's power gem, and is on a seemingly mindless rampage. The new Retro Girl then arrives on the scene, and while her lack of experience results in a battle that lasts longer than it really should have, in the end Retro Girl walks away the winner. Back at the police station the wife details her role in the first death as well as how and why of the Joke's murder.
Comments: The film Psycho (the original not the remake) is one of my favourite films, and the only element that keeps it from holding a death grip on the top position would have to be the scene that is tacked on the end where the doctor explains Norman's condition to the viewer. This in turn pretty much explains the origin of my dislike for stories where the final moments consist of the writer sitting the audience down and answering all the questions from the peanut gallery, as I'm of the mind that the writer should trust in the intelligence of the readers. As such, by offering up scenes that deliberately fill in all the information gaps, the writer is basically saying that they didn't trust the readers to be able to grasp the complexities of the story. Now I will concede that this mystery did have quite a bit of explaining to do, and this question/answer exchange does a lovely job of fleshing out the woman's motivation, though the explanation for her final crazed rampage was a bit weak. Still, I couldn't help but feel the writing could have done a better job of making it less obvious that of what it was doing, as the questions that the detectives were asking felt like they were going down a list of potentially confusing plot elements than a real questioning of a suspect. I also found myself a little disappointed that the final exchange decided to bring back the more self-centred aspect of the character, as there was a lovely little exchange where the writing made a strong case for why we should feel sorry for this character, but this is quickly cast aside by her final self-absorbed tirade, though her final comment was pure genius. This issue also offers up a great big mess of a battle to open the issue, and the final cliff-hanger is going to make the wait for next month's issue a bit of a chore.
While it's not really important to the actual story, and Brian Michael Bendis makes it clear in the letter page that his script didn't call for it, I have to say the wardrobe malfunction that occurs in this issue was one of those little touches that helped to add an extra level of credibility to this series. I understand the reasons why it doesn't happen in the Marvel and DC universe, but it does add that extra level of humiliation to the villain's defeat, and it also makes sense that given the sheer intensity of the conflict something like this could occur. The art also amazingly captures the idea that such a battle would be extremely messy, as the action strays into the homes of innocent bystanders, and all the windows on the block are blown out by the big attack that ends the fight. The panel design elements that are employed during the questioning session also helped make the sequence visually engaging, and the art also does a lovely job on the final page as Deena's attacker gets an unexpected surprise.
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