BRITISH = FUN
The Good: As aways, the issue is filled to the brim with gushingly great dialogue that will leave you giddy as a schoolgirl.
It's more accessible than the last few issues, I understood pretty much all of the dialogue.
There actually finally appears to be a flow and linking thread to the miniseries instead of being 6 one-shots. Though, as long as the issue titles weren't just, "For Six! Part 1-6" this would've been fine because the linking thread is epicly weak as a linking thread unless Shrike turns out to be The Joker or something. And if that happens I called it.
Jimmy Broxton's art is uppy and lighthearted as usual and really suits the tone of the series.
Hank as an American being a British counterpart to Alfred's British Americanism is a nice counterpart if you understood that sentence. And as the last page explains, he's the type of American stereotypical of British TV as Alfred is the kind of British stereotypical of American TV. And they never take it too far either.
The plot's a little cliche, but dammit it works, the whole series is built on being cliche and not taking itself too seriously. Plus, the cliche works incredibly well as a device to drive the character development .
There's an emphasis on character development in this issue, and it also works. I had never thought about the backstory of Knight and Squire, but now that it's been introduced it's great and it works and I'm far more endeared to the characters.
The Bad: There was this bit at the beginning where Squire makes a playful comment about Shrike's real name and he damn near bites her head off for it. It breaks out of character so incredibly bad, and seems unbelievable stupid beyond all reason.
Sure it's kind of neat that there's a connecting thread to this minseries vaguely justifying the laziness of the issues titles, but really? The connecting thread is a romance subplot? That's pretty weak. Unless, as stated before, he turns out to be The Joker and I get to effing called it. Or maybe he gets killed. But that wouldn't be too much less lame.
EDIT: Forgot to mention. Squire's superpower. I thought it was just a joke in the first issue, but this one is heavily implying she has one. Does she or not? And seriously, what IS it exactly? I don't even comprehend what it's SUPPOSEDLY supposed to be, much less whether or not she even has it, and even more less what it is if she has it and it isn't what it supposedly is. Just leave it as the gag it was at the beginning, because there's no way it can end well the way it is now.
In Conclusion: 4.5/5
This issue is pretty much settled where it is after the first 3 issues and like a screaming child, this miniseries has now matured and found it's place for the second half of it's life. But no matter what, it's always been fun. It's a fun fun fun damn fun read, and I would buy up an ongoing in a minute and you should too.
