The Winslow house, situated in the wrong part of town, is the home to a mixed bunch of diverse people. Of course, where there is a house, there is land and when the much feared Mr Donovan requests that the residents of said house leave, their reluctance to do so, brings about a series of confrontations. With Donovan’s goons on the prowl for the women of the house, The Death-Defying Devil makes an appearance only to find himself needing as much help from the residents as he was trying to provide.
Fan favourite Gail Simone has set the tone of the book well, if a little racially charged. The diverse residents notwithstanding; there are cops who won’t go out to “risk their live for dirty little scofflaws”. I am not sure what the tone of the book is trying to prove but at this stage, the big bad white guy, hating on people who are not white is becoming quite old. I understand that corrupt police departments are an accepted trope, yet ambulance crews that won’t go out? Really? I also understand that this is a fiction, but I had hoped that a writer of Simone’s obvious talent wouldn’t need to trawl these ideas as a means to create genuine villainy. The book is wordy, due in parts to fact it is a first issue and there is a large cast to cater for; each has to have their panels in order to help the reader get an idea of who is who.
The art is provided by Walter Giovani, a longtime Simone collaborator. Here, Geovani discards the chain-mail bikini of Red Sonja and in its place is something more contemporary, with a dash of superheroes thrown in. The line work that Geovani shows throughout this issue looks a thinner style than I would have expected, having seen his work on other books. The cleaner lines really helps to sell the emotional aspects of the book, across a range of characters. Ironically, I don’t think that the actual costume of the ‘Devil actually helps the pencils, with the clash of blue and red not quite working. This may be more of an issues for colorist Adriano Augusto more than Geovani, though perhaps, stronger inks with regards to the costume would help. Rounding of the creative team is seemingly Dynamite’s letterer of choice, Simon Bowland who produces a font and placement that aids the pace, whilst also dealing with the level of verbosity in the book.
I am a tad confused by this book; Simone’s recent run on both DC, with Plastic Man and Marvel with Domino far exceeds the writing in this book. Unfortunately, in an odd slice of “life imitating art”, as alluded by the mysterious cloaked character, could Simone actually be “slumming it”?
Writing – 3 Stars
Art – 3 Stars
Colors – 3Â Stars
[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
Written by; Gail Simone
Art by; Walter Giovani
Colors by; Adriano Augusto
Letters by; Simon Bowland
Published by;Â Dynamite Entertainment
Author Profile
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I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow
Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network
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