Ravagers #5 Review
Ravagers #5 Review
Overview:
The team meets Niles Caulder and saves Thunder’s life.
The Good:
The team comes together here and it ties in with Superboy very nicely (SB #13 happens just before this). During the stay at Niles’ base the team learns why Thunder has headaches and what it means for the rest of them and the way the team becomes a team instead of a group of individuals is great, if not a little rushed. Ridge becomes a better character here and it kind of makes you wish he had a better name but whatever. Overall this issue is about the team coming together and they do and it works, is it perfect? No, but it doesn’t really matter because, one, the team isn’t perfect, and two, it is entertaining enough that it doesn’t really matter. Now that they have a unified goal, it will be interesting to see them develop and become a cohesive unit.
Howard Mackie does a good job writing this issue to make it one of the stronger issues in the series. One thing that he does right is making everyone on the team a separate person; Beast Boy is the trusting guy, Terra is the suspicious one, Fairchild is the leader, Superboy is the talent and Ridge is the wildcard while Thunder is the mystery; but the good thing is that they each aren’t forced into the role and made to stay there, they are able to spill over and become more than one dimentional characters and he does a great job keeping them balanced even though the series is young.
Ian Churchill’s art is a perfect fit for the series and really helps the story come to life. The fight between Fairchild and Superboy was excellent and the last page was really good to.
The consistency between the Superboy series and this series is phenomenal and it is nice to see that kind of consistency between series that are not in a crossover.
The Bad:
Nothing glaring but there are a few little things like how Fairchild’s uniform changes from last issue, where it was a two piece to this issue, where it is a one piece with boots? Where do Ridges clothes go from the second to last to last page? Where do they all get civilian clothes from? None of these drag the issue down but it was a little annoying to see (it was also a little fun to spot all of the differences between them too.)
What is up with Fairchild? Sometimes she is fine and sometimes she is like a not green skinned hulk with all of the rage and super strength. This isn’t something against the issue but it is a question that has been around since early in the series and should be at least partially answered soon.
Verdict:
Except for a few bumps that really don’t detract from the experience, this is arguably the best issue so far and really gets some momentum going that hopefully will keep it up. The team is starting to come together and it leaves the reader wanting a little more as the characters start to become their own. Some interesting things are on the horizon for this series and here’s hoping that it will deliver.
4 out of 5
