Spoiler Alert: This Issue Spoils The Concurrent I, Vampire
What was the deal with the inclusion of Mindwarp? His importance seems to be completely gone, with no signs of him coming back. Actually he never seemed that important in the first place, he always seemed like an offhanded mention here and there. And Madame Xanadu says one remains at large, is she talking about Mindwarp or, the way she freaks out at the end, Andrew Bennett?
But there's a bigger underlying problem with this issue. Everything about it feels so forced. Everyone's having nightmares, which I do have to admit, each nightmare is extremely fitting, but also really surprising. I especially loved John Constantine's. But these nightmares lead them all to seek out Madame Xanadu, who tells them the dreams represent what will happen if they don't stay together. On one hand, it means its showcased some of the threats they'll face. On the other hand, this is a really lamely contrived way to force the team back together. It's handled decently, but nothing could stop my instincts to roll my eyes at the notion.
But I do have to kind of give some credit for the characters realizing how lame this is as much as I did. Constantine understands the best, acknowledging quickest that as long as he doesn't have to like them, it could work.
This issue also commits a pretty cardinal sin of spoiling I, Vampire #6, which is released this week as well. I haven't read I, Vampire #6 yet, I always save the best for last. So thanks a lot JLD, you gave away major plot points of the comic I was about to read. Piss off.
In Conclusion: 3/5
Whatever. Rarely does this series give me a lot to talk about. Sometimes its just hard to conceptualize everything, other times it just.. eh. I dunno. I know that I like the series, but I rarely give it high scores. This issue was a little messier than the others.
