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A review by dozmuttz
Rogues by Joshua Williamson
5.0
ROGUES BY JOSHUA WILLIAMSON AND LEOMACS IS ANOTHER DC BLACK LABEL CLASSIC THAT YOU NEED TO CHECK OUT NOW!
I can’t express how much fun I had reading this mini-series. Rogues is a story about the old rag and tag bad guy group getting back together to do one last big hit. It’s been 10 years since Leonard Snart dawned his Captain Cold alias, and he’s turned to a normal life of working in line management in Central City. He’s checked on by parole agents to make sure he isn’t up to his old ways. He feels like his life is being wasted. He’s treated like a nobody and feels like a loser. He remembers hearing about Gorilla Grodd’s hidden city and how there might be gold hidden underneath it. He gathers his things together and reunites the living past Rogue members as a last ditch effort to get a huge score. After some convincing he gets his sister Lisa Snart (Golden Glider), James Jesse (Trickster), Ben Turner (Bronze Tiger), Frankie Kane (Magenta), Mick Rory (Heatwave), and Evan McCulloch (Mirror Master) to form back together and infiltrate Gorilla City.
Joshua Williamson writes an absolute blast of a story and I could not get enough of it. He takes on a respected, but sometimes forgotten group of characters, and gives them a deserving heist story. With it being a ‘Black Label’ imprint Williamson gets a bit more room with the mature content, and I feel like he executes well. The story *is* about a group of previous baddies so it's a great fit. It never feels over the top, or too edgy though, and I really appreciate that from Williamson. I like the way he writes each character and especially Captain Cold. He doesn’t try to rope you in, and make you feel bad for the guy, and then make this his sort of redeeming story. No, he shows you how terrible of a person Snart is and what his selfish ways lead to. There’s awesome pacing in this book, and the last 2 issues really had me going “OH SHIT”, and I could not turn the pages fast enough. I do know a couple people were upset with the ending and although it was kinda cliche, I still enjoyed it and thought it was the best outcome for the story Williamson wrote.
Leomacs is the artist on this series and I’ve seen his work with ‘A Basketful of Heads,’ and I loved it then so you know I loved it now. His pacing and action scenes were badass, and he drew great detail with the Gorilla City scenes that made it look really cool. Leomac is a brilliant cartoonist and it’s always a pleasure to see his work.
Overall; This read was super cool (PUN INTENDED), and it just shows how creative creators can get when you give them free liberties on their stories. I remember DC’s Black Label line not starting off too hot, but recently we’ve gotten some great material. This being a perfect example. Do yourself a favor and pick this up.
I can’t express how much fun I had reading this mini-series. Rogues is a story about the old rag and tag bad guy group getting back together to do one last big hit. It’s been 10 years since Leonard Snart dawned his Captain Cold alias, and he’s turned to a normal life of working in line management in Central City. He’s checked on by parole agents to make sure he isn’t up to his old ways. He feels like his life is being wasted. He’s treated like a nobody and feels like a loser. He remembers hearing about Gorilla Grodd’s hidden city and how there might be gold hidden underneath it. He gathers his things together and reunites the living past Rogue members as a last ditch effort to get a huge score. After some convincing he gets his sister Lisa Snart (Golden Glider), James Jesse (Trickster), Ben Turner (Bronze Tiger), Frankie Kane (Magenta), Mick Rory (Heatwave), and Evan McCulloch (Mirror Master) to form back together and infiltrate Gorilla City.
Joshua Williamson writes an absolute blast of a story and I could not get enough of it. He takes on a respected, but sometimes forgotten group of characters, and gives them a deserving heist story. With it being a ‘Black Label’ imprint Williamson gets a bit more room with the mature content, and I feel like he executes well. The story *is* about a group of previous baddies so it's a great fit. It never feels over the top, or too edgy though, and I really appreciate that from Williamson. I like the way he writes each character and especially Captain Cold. He doesn’t try to rope you in, and make you feel bad for the guy, and then make this his sort of redeeming story. No, he shows you how terrible of a person Snart is and what his selfish ways lead to. There’s awesome pacing in this book, and the last 2 issues really had me going “OH SHIT”, and I could not turn the pages fast enough. I do know a couple people were upset with the ending and although it was kinda cliche, I still enjoyed it and thought it was the best outcome for the story Williamson wrote.
Leomacs is the artist on this series and I’ve seen his work with ‘A Basketful of Heads,’ and I loved it then so you know I loved it now. His pacing and action scenes were badass, and he drew great detail with the Gorilla City scenes that made it look really cool. Leomac is a brilliant cartoonist and it’s always a pleasure to see his work.
Overall; This read was super cool (PUN INTENDED), and it just shows how creative creators can get when you give them free liberties on their stories. I remember DC’s Black Label line not starting off too hot, but recently we’ve gotten some great material. This being a perfect example. Do yourself a favor and pick this up.