About Heroes

Author, Art, and Cover: Bill Willingham

Want to know what happened to the cast of Day of Vengeance? Well look no further. Nightmaster, Ragman, Nightshade, Blue Devil, Enchantress, and Detective Chimp are summoned once again by the Phantom Stranger and now star in their own monthly title. All this and guest starring Superman!!!

I was wondering how they were going to work in that last part. The appearance of Superman out of his own books seems kind of silly I thought, but it turns out it takes place a year ago....now since this is a OYL title does that mean that takes place Now Now or then now....fuck! But anyway this first issue introduces group of villains whose members mirror those characters in the Shadowpact. They are lead by a lady named Strega who looks very similar to the Enchantress. She also possesses a level of magic abilities strong enough to keep Superman at bay. There is also a Ragman counterpart called Bagman and the other member names are Sister Shadow, Jack of Fire, Karneval, and the White Rabbit. The Phantom Stranger helps the Shadow Pact get through the barrier and the two mystical teams go at each other's throats.

This is a pretty good start for a story Willingham understands these characters specially Blue Devil, who has had a complex story in the past. There is a nice subtle comparison made to Hellboy that reminded me how much alike the two characters are or were at one time. His art is reminiscent of Tom Raney's early work with a cleaner finish to it. This works on action sequences great, but it takes a toll on the expression of the characters. On the plus side though, it is nice to see someone take full creator control. This is the perfect book for all the C-list magic users in the DC universe, now where is my Black Alice!!!? B