Deconstructing a god
(No Spoilers)
Wow, this has got to be Gage’s deepest offering during his entire Wildcats run. This issue represents something I think is lost in a lot of comics now-a-days: narration. It seems that having a hero narrate an issue, or even a few scenes, is something writers have gotten away from. I realize sometimes it can get wordy but so can dialogue which I think is what has been used to replace narration in recent years, which in turn makes the dialogue very wordy. But Void’s narration of this issue and it’s events as they unfold is perfect. First off, Gage pulls an interesting twist at the beginning of this issue as the heroes reach a turning point in their battle with Tao. I have to say it was a very clever turn in the story and it set up the Void narration I was talking about. As Void observes the events affecting the other heroes, we get some great insight into not only the heroes, but also the great villain Tao himself. Tao has always been known for his high intelligence and his ability to be one step ahead of the heroes and it’s earned him a spot as one of, if not the, top Wildstorm villain. But Gage takes us inside Tao and shows us what made him that way. It’s something that is neglected most of the time with villains. All villains are motivated by something and most weren’t born evil; something happened to make them that way. The best villains are always the ones you’re afraid to admit have a point with their views. With Tao, it’s not his views that we’re meant to agree with, it’s the revelation of how he got this way that almost makes you feel for him for an instant. Most villains make a choice that leads them down the wrong path, but every now and then you get one like Tao who seems to never have even had the option to chose the right path. Or furthermore, who did have the right path in front of him (joining the Wildcats) but was already too far gone to be able to take it.
I can tell Gage was itching to get to this part because I feel his writing was on it’s ‘A-game’ with this issue. I’d say as far as being deep and meaningful, this is the best of his Wildcats run. I don’t think we’ll have much more of this same deep analysis in his final issue next month, but who knows, he might surprise us. He’s done it before.