Reviewer: Jesse Baker
Story Title: The Archduke is Dead
Written by: Joe Casey
Penciled by: Duncan Rouleau
Inked by: John Dell
Colored by: Randy Mayor
Lettered by:Phil Balsman
Editor: Ben Abernathy
Publisher: Wildstorm Comics/DC Comics
Plot Synopsis
The Coda War heats up as Zealot finds herself being tortured mercilessly by the members of the Coda. Meanwhile Grifter’s squad begins their counter-assault against the Coda with mixed results and Wax (who is still impersonating his deceased boss) finds himself becoming drawn into some inner-office machinations.
The Vivisection
And this is for the fans: Zealot being tortured throughout the issue was a cool sight and a nice nod to the fact that Zealot, along with Void, was the most generic and one-dimensional of the original WildCATs. That being said, seeing her get the crap kicked out of her was cool and hopefully Casey will not give the arc a “happy ending” by having Grifter rescue Zealot from her impending death at the next to last second.
Inner-Office Shennanigans at 11: Wax seems to be getting way out of his league with this issue, as everyone’s favorite rapist finds himself drawn into the black-ops games of his superiors without having much idea as to what is going on and what he’s supposed to do. Hopefully this plot thread will get resolved before the series comes to it’s end in a couple of months.
Message From God For Mr. Dolby: First he gets the shit beaten out of him by Grifter’s S&M playmates. Then he ends up having to shoot a villain in the face at point blank range. Now, he almsot gets killed when the S&M brothers drop a Coda assassin onto the survaillance van he’s in, which totals the vehicle beyond all repairs. Perhaps a sign for Dolby to avoid the super-hero business altogether?
Worst Redesign Ever….: I have to say that Grifter’s redesign of Ladytron is absolutely hideous looking, especially with the flip-top visor in the shape of his old mask. Though thankfully fill-in artist Duncan Rouleau does his best to draw Ladytron with the visor up in order to make her not look so retarded everytime she’s on-panel.
