About Heroes

Writer: Jeph Loeb
Artist: Lenil Yu

Spinning out of Captain America #25, comes the Fallen Son mini-series. Spotlighting a different person or team in each issue, as we travel through the five stages of grief (Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance) with the Marvel Universe. This is a really interesting idea, and if it's carried out consistently, may work well. The only thing that may hinder it is the rotating artist on each issue, but Lenil Yu is not a bad way to start. The book opens with Wolverine talking to "The Winter Soldier" (the Lamest title ever so we'll call him Bucky) about Cap's death. Wolverine does not believe that Cap is dead and is trying to get Bucky to go with him to verify the body. Bucky declines, so Wolverine seeks some other help from Daredevil. If he can't get Bucky to identify the body as the person who knows Cap best, then he'll get Daredevil, the human lie-detector, to verify his enhanced senses. With some help from the New Avengers, they get onto the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier to find Cap's body, as well as Crossbones. At the end of the issue, the denial plotline has been closed up satisfactorily, making this a well rounded stand-alone issue. If each issue of this mini-series deals with the emotional issue that it's modeled after, then bully for Jeph Loeb, as he's the only man who could write this, with the recent death of his son being the driving factor here.

If you don't think Lenil Yu is a great artist, you're wrong. His nitty gritty style is working for New Avengers, and works here too. His pencil shading rather than traditional inks adds some vitality to the art, making it different from anything else on the stands. Yu draws Logan as the short man we know him to be. He also draws a great Daredevil seen to the left. If there is one artist I wish DC would steal (eventually) it would be Yu, and put him on Batman or Hawkman. This is a great selling point on Yu's art, as Loeb really lets him cut loose, which helps the story. Go get this book for a good read and great art. I can't wait to read the rest of the issues to see if this was an actual story idea, or just another sales ploy after Civil War made so much money. B+