Reviewer: Tim Stevens
Story Titles: Unfinished Business
The Mind of God
Written by: Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti
Art by: Juan Santacruz
Colored by: Carrie Strachan
Lettered by: Phil Balsman
Editor: Bob Harras & Kristy Quinn
Publisher: Wildstorm
This two for one review is brought to you by the fact that Twilight Experiment #4 was sitting in my To Read pile for the past month. Truth be told, it probably would’ve stayed their longer if I wasn’t assigned #5 to review this week. So anyway, since I had to read both issues back to back, it was easier for me to just review them all together. I could pretend that it was all about giving you, the customer, the best possible coverage, but….eh. Honesty is the best policy and all that.
Anyway, Twilight (Michael) son of Serenity, came to earth and almost immediately met Rene, an embittered paramedic who’s older sister was killed when Twilight’s aforementioned mom went toe-to-toe with crazy powerful (and just plain crazy)The Righteous. Oh, and Rene has superpowers too. Then those two met Rene’s long disappeared dad. He takes them to an alien world, which happens to be where The Righteous is currently being held. He, of course, escapes.
These two issues deal with The Righteous resuming his crusade to make the world a better place, the evolving relationship between Rene and Twilight, and some sort of time distorting curtain thingy which threatens us all.
What works for me in this book is the naïve, enthusiastic almost to the point of, “hey guys, I’m just glad to be here folks” Twilight. This would seem to be a good thing since the book is named after the guy. Sadly, somewhat inexplicably, the focus has drifted away from him.
It is, in part, because the cast has basically grown exponentially each issue since #2. So far, joining Rene and Twilight on stage has been Rene’s dad, the President of the United States (very deceased now), the Vice President, a bunch of aliens, The Righteous, and a General. They’ve all gotten varying amounts of lines and on panel time, but the result is the same: they are given lines at the expense of continuing to develop the most interesting character (or, really, any of the others) in the book.
I am also a touch disappointed with how easily the dilemma of The Righteous’s crusade is solved. The issue of bringing about a perfect world is well worn terrain for comics (and all other mediums) so we know where we’re going. The fun is how we get there and Palmiotti and Gray choose not to produce that fun. Rene states a halting hesitant thought on whether or not The Righteous should even be stopped. Twilight immediately shoots down her idea with statistics about the death toll The Righteous’s actions have brought with it. That’s it. No thorny debate, no soul searching. Just “Well, maybe…” “Sure, but what about these numbers?”
What makes the situation odder and more deflating is that these numbers are really the only sign were are given of that side of The Righteous’s campaign. Mostly, we get to see him “fix” things like a more intense, aggressive, and effective Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. As I said, we know ultimately that what he is doing is Wrong, but finding the cure for AIDS, breaking the tyrannical control of the Chinese government on its people, and dismantling the world’s weapons of mass destruction seem pretty damn great. The only violence that we see The Righteous commit (when he hasn’t been attacked) first is directed at an arrogant diplomat for that aforementioned Chinese government. Yes, murder is wrong no matter who the victim, but this one act does not give us a feel for the widespread genocide he has committed off panel. Maybe if it had been a little girl with big eyes petting her golden retriever puppy…
Thankfully, while the story may have gone south, the art has not. It remains strong, although still with a notable disconnect when it comes to action sequences and scenes of violence.
Sadly, I must pronounce this initially promising mini as having gone by the wayside.
