Comic Vine Review

10 Comments

Team 7 #3 - Black Diamond Probability, Mission 1.3: Darkness Rising

4

More from the past is revealed as the team comes across Essence, seen in RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS.

The Good

I don't want to keep repeating myself but I love seeing the early days of the New 52 universe. It's not really the "early" days as it's around the magical 'five years ago' time period. Even though we're seeing characters like Deathstroke, Grifter, Black Canary, Amanda Waller and others in the current comics, there's still a lot we simply do not know. Seeing how they were involved 'back then' is something I find fascinating.

We're also seeing some other connections to the current time. Essence pops up in this issue. She's a character tied to Jason Todd as seen in some issues of RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS. Because of the mysterious nature of her character in those issues, we can't be fully sure what her role is here and what it will mean for the characters in the team.

If you've been reading the last couple issues, you know that Eclipso has been loosely involved. This is where the writing will get tricky. If we do see a full fledge appearance/attack/influence from him, what will it mean for the history of the New 52 and will we see any sign of Eclipso in the foreseeable future?

The Bad

Part of me likes that each member of the team has a bit of their own identities with the different colors. The problem is it's almost too much. If this is supposed to be more of a covert op team, having the members be allowed to wear whatever colors they want doesn't really make sense. As good as the coloring is on the issue, it adds a little too much to the scenes. I would rather see them wearing their own actual costumes rather than this armored type of uniform that they seem to be modifying.

There were some moments the art fluctuated a bit. It may be more that there were a couple artists on the issue. In the two instances we see the leader of the terrorists, the shape of his head varies. In his second appearance, it becomes almost fatter. Even the change in detail when Deathstroke appears in a pannel was distracting.

Even though this is only the fourth issue (counting the zero issue), it could be confusing to those that might be picking this up as their first issue. Unless I completely missed it, there's no indication when this takes place.

The Verdict

TEAM 7 allows us to get a look at the New 52 DC Universe from five years ago. Seeing characters like Deathstroke, Black Canary, Grifter and others before the New 52 started (for us) is pretty cool. Having Essence, a character first seen in RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS is great as it further bridges the titles in the DC universe. The art varies a little here and it could be due to the fact that we have two artists. With the idea of Eclipso here and in previous issues, it's going to be interesting to see how his presence is depicted and what further implications it could have for the DC Universe.