Raider of the Last Arc: Voodoo Who?

EDITORS’ NOTE: Trebuchet has been a regular commenter here (“Regular” being a relative term) since we started in September, sticking with us as we spun off into writing about odd tangents with which he was unfamiliar: namely, comic books. However, Trebuchet has been sending us interesting private emails asking about what books we recommended and then commenting on them after he read them. He had the idea of picking up longer recent story arcs and reviewing the entire thing in one shot, which sounded cool. This is his first submission, and well: damn. 

So Crisis On Infinite Midlives is proud to introduce our latest contributor: Trebuchet! Please tell him it doesn’t suck so he’ll write some more!

Thanks Rob, now get off my lawn.

I was a casual comics collector back in the late 80s and early 90s, until other interests gradually overshadowed my weekly pilgrimages to the local comics shop. Since then, I’ve picked up a few things here and there at Rob’s suggestion, but generally speaking, I’ve been out of the game for almost 20 years.  I missed the advent of “event” stories, massive crossovers and “point one releases”.  I’ve missed the tragic deaths and resurrections of countless heroes and the births of others, so at the moment, I have no idea what the hell is going on in any of the superhero universes.

The New 52 seemed like a great opportunity to jump back on the train and start fresh. So shortly after the launch, I was perusing the shelves of my local comic store, where they have no idea who the hell I am and keep telling me that the Bingo hall is across the street, and anyhoo, the cover of Voodoo issue 4 jumped off the shelf at me, so I decided to take a chance on something I didn’t recognize.

It’s important to mention this because, I had absolutely no idea that Voodoo was an existing property, or that it was recently folded into DC from an Image / Wildstorm universe.  Hell, McFarlane and Liefeld were still working for scale when I got out of the game.  So yeah, I never heard of “Wild C.A.T.S.” (Lawn; off now!)

The first two books seemed preoccupied with providing backstory that doesn’t appear relevant to the story being told. They felt more like a concession to the original fans of the Wildstorm universe.  The third book felt strangely like a “very special guest” episode of The Facts of Life.  “Look kids, Buck Rogers is doing funny things to Mrs. Garrett”.  (And who the hell is the guy in the green suit and power ring? That ain’t Hal Jordan?!?!)

Issue 4, “Breaking and Entering”, picks up where we really should have started from: Voodoo is Oscar Mike and the first words on the page are, “Let’s start with what we know.”  Over the course of this issue, we learn just about everything that we really need to know about the story and the character though a superb combination exposition and action.

Voodoo is a half human, half Daemonite hybrid, created to gather intelligence about the Earth, its humans, and its superheroes ahead of an impending alien invasion.  Diverging from the previous incarnation of this character, this Voodoo was born human, but abducted as an infant and genetically modified into a hybrid. She’s a shape-shifter and a telepath, and can secrete some form of toxin through her skin.

Of course there’s a government agency on her trail, with the obligatory bad-ass female agent, an armored strike team and a meta-human called BlackJack. This part of the story feels particularly derivative, we’ve seen these characters a hundred times before. Agent Fallon is an amalgam of every gritty female detective you’ve ever seen – think Olivia Dunham meets Karen Sisco with a hint of Dana Scully. And The Black Razors are supposed to be an elite armored unit whose sole mission is to track and contain alien technologies… but when they throw down with Voodoo, this elite team turns out to be about as effective as F-Troop after an all-night bender (Okay, now I may be aging myself).

BlackJack is a meta-human, apparently created by the Black Razors.  He’s a cigar chomping, prototypical Gunnery Sargeant type whose only power displayed thus far is a rather generic looking “power blast” from his fists.

Voodoo is very good at her job and executes it with a violence of action that would make Seal Team 6 blush. There are no real “fights” here, because that would imply a back and forth exchange. The violence that Voodoo inflicts is almost entirely unilateral; most of her opponents are still considering what they want for lunch when their tracheas hit the floor.

Along the way, there are hints that Voodoo is conflicted; is the human part of her starting to display a conscience? Does she want to help the invasion, or is she a puppet beginning to sense the strings?  It’s not a new concept by any means, but it is one I’ve always had an affinity for. When told properly, you can find your own allegiances swaying along with the protagonist’s. This is not only fun, but it helps remove your own objectivity, and makes the more obvious twists and turns easier to accept.

I’m no art critic; I’ve never taken an art history class, but I know what I like when I see it… and this I like. To my eye, the art in this series is beautiful. The lines are distinct but not heavy, and the color pallete conveys mood while providing a wonderful sense of depth and atmosphere.  The highlights and shadows on faces are particularly well done, making Voodoo’s human form feel as soft and sensual as she is meant to be. The backgrounds receive enough attention to convey atmosphere without distracting the eye. The lighting effect on the splash page is particularly ethereal, hats off to Sami Basri and the rest of the art team. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the cover by John Tyler Christopher; the design and detail jumped off the shelf and SCREAMED Read Me!  If I have one critique, it’s that the fight sequences lose much of their kinetic impact to the smoothness of the art. But if it’s got to be one way or the other, I’m fine with smooth.

After finally getting the story moving, writer Ron Marz was rewarded by being rather unceremoniously removed from the book.  With an editorial change higher up, he was told they wanted to go in a different direction and was handed his walking papers.  Going forward, Joshua Williamson will be taking over story duties.  The art team will be staying aboard, which is welcome news. Hopefully Williamson proves to be a positive impact on the book.

<Update>

Since I started this review, issue 5 has been released.  It’s hard to say if the events are a continuation of Marz’s story or if Williamson is diving straight in.  With the story moving ahead, we are introduced to a few new characters and ideas.  Some good, some bad… but one has the potential be a book killer.

Voodoo encounters a pure Daemonite , a “true believer” who attempts to kill her for being “an Abomination”, indicating that even the bad guys aren’t all on the same page.  We learn that Voodoo’s shape shifting and telepathic abilities take a toll on her when used. (Which is good: A wise man once said, it’s not their strength that makes heroes interesting, it’s their weaknesses.)

The questionable part comes at the end. It turns out that the Voodoo we’ve been following is ~gasp~ a clone! The real Voodoo is currently incarcerated by our favorite government lackeys, awaiting execution.

Paging Adam Gibson, Adam Gibson from The 6^th Day, please report to the DC editorial lounge.

It remains to be seen if this book is going to go sideways or not. It would be a shame if it does because I think this thing has potential.  So, if you have any interest in reading this book, if for no other reason than to admire the terrific art, ignore the first three and jump in at issue 4.