Reviewer: Mathan “Deep Cover” Erhardt
Story Title: Candle in a Hurricane
Written by: Joe Kelly
Penciled by: Doug Mahnke
Inked by: Tom Nguyen
Colored by: David Baron
Lettered by: Phil Balsman
Editor: Mike Carlin
Publisher: DC Comics
Ok, so the new JLE is set out to do some work that the JLA won’t do. The team composed of Coldcast, Menagerie, Vera Black (all from the Elite) Major Disaster, The Flash, Manitou Raven (from the JLA) Green Arrow and Kasumi, decides to do some deep cover work infiltrating a group of mercenaries.
This issue opens with the bad guys invading a country looking for a even worse guy, and killing innocent people to get to him. The leaders of the group, the Blood Brothers have split up into two teams. Manitou Raven attacks Tomas, the wilder of the two.
Meanwhile, back at HQ, Ollie makes moves on Manitou’s wife. Vera who is disguised as Deathstroke has been found out by her “teammate” Wolfwood, as a result they have to fight. Lars, the other Blood Brother, and Kasumi find the Sunburst, the target of the entire operation. But then Kasumi sideswipes Lars. She knocks him down, but not out, as he regains composure enough to disable her.
Then lots of other cool stuff happens; you should really read the book The good guys almost win but not quite, there are casualties.
Kelly makes sure that you get your moneys worth when it comes to words. He’s very verbose. The conversation between Manitou and Tomas is very interesting to read. They are connected, but different. Ollie hitting on Dawn is kind of creepy, yet understandable. The characters all talk like individuals, but they all talk a lot.
Mahnke and Nguyen craft a beautiful issue. Tomas’ backlight figure on the first page is very menacing. And the contrast between the dark battlefield and the lit HQ is very nicely portrayed. Every facial expression looks great, from Vera’s surprise to Menagerie’s Cheshire grin, to Effendi’s indifference. And Wally’s stealth costume absolutely rocks. I want to see more of it. This is one purty issue.
