Reviewer: Mathan “I ain’t no good with figures†Erhardt
Story Title: All 4 One
Written by: David Tischman
Penciled and Inked by: Timothy Green II
Lettered by: Jared K Fletcher
Colored by: Brian Haberlin
Editor: Joan Hilty
Publisher: DC Focus/DC Comics
Remember your old buds from high school, the ones that you outgrew? Well imagine that you didn’t outgrow them. Well that is whom this book is about.
It begins with Mike, the criminal, Pete, the slow one, Ford, the criminal trying to reform, and Trent, the responsible one, all celebrating Ford’s release from prison. See, Ford went away for a year and a half, and his release is cause for celebration. They ditch the trendy night club and end up trying to recapture their glory days by doing something they did in high school; breaking into a self storage place.
But while they may have been good friends in the past, now things are strained. Mike and Trent are at each other’s throats. Ford seems like he’s trying to get his life in order, and distance himself from his chums. Pete just seems oblivious to it all. When Pete opens the locker that just happens to contain a battle armor suit consisting of a helmet, boots, gauntlets, and torso armor, they revert to being children again.
After they realize what they have they decide to divvy the armor up. Of course, who gets what is a tricky decide, so “rock, paper, scissors†decides that. Pete gets the helmet. Ford gets the torso armor. Trent gets the flight boots. Mike gets the gauntlets that double as blasters. We also get a glimpse at their day-to-day existence. Pete lives with his mom, Ford has a job handing out flyers in a chicken suit, Mike hangs out in a strip club, and Trent works for the phone company.
So, when Mike has a “job†to pull he wants his boys in on it. They are going to break into a check-cashing place. Mike blasts through the wall. Pete uses the helmet on look out. But then the storeowner (who lives upstairs) comes down with a shotgun. Ford tries to attack him with a crowbar, but ends up getting shot in the chest. To be continued.
I liked the story. I really liked the characters. But in the beginning I didn’t know who everyone was, and the dialogue was sort of confusing. As the issue went on things became clearer, but the introduction of characters was far from smooth. But the characters are very interesting. I’m really curious about the beef between Trent and Mike. I want to know how things turned sour. Much more character driven than plot driven, but as a fan of shows like “Homicide†I dig that. I also dug the narration. But, again, as a fan of “Bite Club†and “American Century,†I’m used to his style.
Green’s art is pretty detailed. It really reminds me of Tan Eng Huat the artist of the last Doom Patrol series, which is a good thing. The four main characters are very distinct visually. That spread on pages 6&7 where we see how they all react to finding the suit captures some great expressions. The issue was really fun to look at, but looks really good as well.
