A review by fifteenthjessica
DC Comics: Bombshells Vol. 5: The Death of Illusion by Marguerite Bennett
4.0
I haven't enjoyed Bombshells this much in a while. This trade paperback starts with a song recap going over the major characters of the story, it's OK. I'm not confident in my ability to review songs. It seems fine.
This most of the issue focuses on Supergirl, Steve Trevor, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, Raven, Lois Lane, and the Reaper as they take on Dr. Strange and break the siege on Leningrad. Between this trade and the last one, it seems like the story has zeroed in on a theme of of mercy and redemption vs revenge and ending wrongs. Naturally, the heroes disagree on it. Lois clearly favors mercy while Reaper supports revenge. Poison Ivy, after seeing Miri Marvel, is exploring the idea of mercy.
While the art is fairly good overall, in the first issue, I thought Supergirl was hanging out with some kind of zombie or vampire instead of Steve Trevor. He looked really haggard in that issue.
Speaking of vampires (no seriously), the last issue in this trade focuses on the OG Batgirl, Barbara Gordon, being recruited to the Bombshells. I've been curious about her for a while since her cameo in Harley's backstory, and eh. This issue is definitely the weak point of this trade. I've said before, Bombshells doesn't need more characters, but now there's also a supernatural Suicide Squad in the ungainly ensemble.
I've always felt that the appeal of a lot of the Gotham City characters (including Batgirl and Harley Quinn) was that instead of relying on supernatural or alien powers like so many other DC characters, they rely on intelligence, skill, and their own clever gadgets. The Batgirl (not to be confused with the posse of Batwoman fangirls known as the Batgirls) is an ace-pilot (ok, cool) turned vampire (why?). Harley Quinn is flat out weird. The impression I got of Marguerite Bennett's interpretation of the character is that Harleen Quinzel is a psychiatrist with a clown persona similar to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (only we don't see a lot of the doctor after her first appearance) with some sort of ability to turn what would be serious injuries into jokes and can generate clown makeup at random.
This most of the issue focuses on Supergirl, Steve Trevor, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, Raven, Lois Lane, and the Reaper as they take on Dr. Strange and break the siege on Leningrad. Between this trade and the last one, it seems like the story has zeroed in on a theme of of mercy and redemption vs revenge and ending wrongs. Naturally, the heroes disagree on it. Lois clearly favors mercy while Reaper supports revenge. Poison Ivy, after seeing Miri Marvel, is exploring the idea of mercy.
While the art is fairly good overall, in the first issue, I thought Supergirl was hanging out with some kind of zombie or vampire instead of Steve Trevor. He looked really haggard in that issue.
Speaking of vampires (no seriously), the last issue in this trade focuses on the OG Batgirl, Barbara Gordon, being recruited to the Bombshells. I've been curious about her for a while since her cameo in Harley's backstory, and eh. This issue is definitely the weak point of this trade. I've said before, Bombshells doesn't need more characters, but now there's also a supernatural Suicide Squad in the ungainly ensemble.
I've always felt that the appeal of a lot of the Gotham City characters (including Batgirl and Harley Quinn) was that instead of relying on supernatural or alien powers like so many other DC characters, they rely on intelligence, skill, and their own clever gadgets. The Batgirl (not to be confused with the posse of Batwoman fangirls known as the Batgirls) is an ace-pilot (ok, cool) turned vampire (why?). Harley Quinn is flat out weird. The impression I got of Marguerite Bennett's interpretation of the character is that Harleen Quinzel is a psychiatrist with a clown persona similar to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (only we don't see a lot of the doctor after her first appearance) with some sort of ability to turn what would be serious injuries into jokes and can generate clown makeup at random.