Reviewer: Mathan “Deep Cover†Erhardt
Story Title: Grand Experiment
Written by: Joe Kelly
Penciled by: Doug Mahnke
Inked by: Tom Nguyen
Colored by: David Baron
Lettered by: Pat Brosseau
Editor: Mike Carlin
Published by: DC Comics
Ok, so the Elite used to be a thorn in Superman’s backside. Then Manchester Black, the Elite’s leader died. But then his sister Vera Black took over and helped save the world. In return all that she asked was to be given the chance to take a more “active†role in saving the world, by being a more proactive group.
The issue begins with Major Disaster drowning his sorrows after getting kicked out of the League. Then he gets an invite to audition for a new team being put together. He shows up for the audition and is promptly decapitated by Kasumi. It turns out they were auditioning for the same gig, with the Blood Brothers.
Then we jump back in time(?) to Vera trying to convince Al-Sheikh to be a liaison for the new team. He has doubts; she tries to sway his mind. Then we go to Deathstroke receiving the same pitch that Major Disaster got, as well as a couple of escorts. A few minutes later we see that one of the females is actually Menagerie, a member of Vera’s team, who has planted bug, literally and figuratively on Slade Wilson.
Then we flashback(?) to see Vera showing Al-Sheikh what is probably going to end up being the teams HQ. We also get to see Manitou Raven’s wife. Al-Sheikh is less than impressed.
Then we flash forward in time to see Deathstroke and Green Arrow battle, where Ollie loses. With Green Arrow down the Blood Brothers hold their final auditions, to see who joins their ranks. Menagerie, Coldcast, Deathstroke, and Kasumi all compete with some others to see who joins. Kasumi decapitates Coldcast, Deathstroke takes out Menagerie with a crossbow. Just as the last two standing, Kasumi and Deathstroke are about to go at each other the audition ends, with both becoming members.
Then we find out that this was just an elaborate hoax to get inside the Blood Brothers. Deathstroke’s arrows weren’t lethal. The Flash switched Coldcast with a duplicate in the blink of an eye, and he did the same for Major Disaster in the beginning of the book. We then see Al-Sheikh showing how truly undercover the JLE really is. Plus we see that the Deathstroke that joined the Blood Brothers is none other than a masquerading Vera Black.
The story is great. The concept is a cool one. Sure the DCU already has a “proactive team†in the Outsiders, but the JLE goes undercover, which is a pretty interesting idea. The delivery is kind of jarring. The non-linear story is kind of annoying. And trying to figure out who is speaking to whom; especially during the Ollie/Deathstroke fight is maddening. But Kelly does a very good job outlining the dangers of deep cover work. Clearly he has given this some thought, and it shows with this issue.
Mahnke and Nguyen are a great team. The art is very detailed and crisp. The mayhem looks chaotic, the women look attractive, and everything is perfect. The scene where the two Blood Brothers get emotional is equally hilarious and frightening. Manitou looks way cool on page 9, and I appreciated the foreshadowing to the revelation about the duplicates.
