Reviewer: Mathan “I Swore Robbie Was A Bad Guy” Erhardt
Story Title: Pieces of Hate: Part 2
Written by: Will Pfeifer
Penciled by: Dale Eaglesham
Inked by: Wade von Grawbadger
Colored by: Sno Cone
Lettered by: Phil Balsman
Editor: Peter Tomasi
Publisher: DC Comics
Last issue, former H-E-R-O dial possessor, Robby Reed faced the aftermath of his battle with the serial killer who has been granted Superman level powers by the dial. The villain is trying to find other former dial holders to activate their powers or kill them. Robby is trying to find them as well, so they can battle the villain.
This issue Robby arrives at the house of the Captain Chaos crew, only to find the entire group of friends slaughtered, save one survivor who he recruits. Meanwhile Tony Finch, who the villain busted out of Arkham last issue, and the villain spend some quality time together. The villain gives Tony the dial, and Tony gets powers again. He goes to steal some art, but then thinks about how evil the villain is and decides to leave. But the villain manages to convince Tony to remain his partner, through force.
Robbie scours the net for clues as to other people who had the dial, which leads him to Andrea Allen’s school, where the villain is terrorizing Andrea’s teacher. Robby and Wayne confront the villain and try to get Andrea away, but the villain makes off with her anyway. Fortunately Robby figures out that Andrea’s father had the dial before her, and track him down. To be continued.
Pfeifer is doing a really good job of wrapping up the loose ends as the series draws to a close. I wish we could have seen where he was planning on going with the book, but that’s not going to happen. All of the characters from previous issues remain in character. Andrea is reluctant, but ultimately heroic. Wayne doesn’t really think things though. Tony isn’t driven by evil, but by art. And Matt Allen has sunk to new lows. I can’t wait to see how this ends.
Eaglesham and von Grawbadger could be one of my all time favorite teams. The scenes at casa de la Captain Chaos are quite horrific. Tony’s turn with powers looks almost heroic, but his flash of conscience is pretty scary as is the lesson he learns from the villain. But the last page is the best, with Matt Allen’s powers activating, it get you pretty excited for next issue.
