Challengers of the Groan
Sigh. Look, it's better than the Green Lantern banner because I get the point of this one. It's not hyping a movie that didn't need extra hype, and its for a good cause. But it doesn't change the fact that the "We Can Be Heroes" banner is a huge detriment to the covers its on. Well, this one is actually barely noticable, the top was mostly solid black anyways. On a related note, this is the second time in a row this series has made a few changes to the cover that I personally feel alter the effect. The incomplete feel of this cover before made it look more compelling with the simpler style. When the muscles / spandex are toned in, it makes things a little awkward, everything it too smooth, and I liked it better when it was more choppy.
As for the interior art, Ordway's gotten better. Or maybe its the fact that we only have one consistent inker. A lot of his rough edges are smoothed out, and you can see the qualities of his art shine a bit brighter. Not that it's super compelling, but some of the least stale artwork I've ever seen from Ordway.
As for the story... well, it basically suffers from a lot of the same problems as the last issue. Ok, the cover this time is far more obviously not a direct event, but at least it doesn't have LIVING MOUNTAIN to live up to. Other than that though, this issue really doesn't justify a lot of the mystic implications the story is insinuating. Hardly any of the characters feel like they serve a purpose besides filling out the cast, representing celebrity stereotypes, and creating comedy. Last issue made a HUGE insistance that 'Everyone had a purpose,' and that's why Clay had to die (Oh and THANKS FOR THE DAMN REMINDER ***HOLE. I HAD TOTALLY FORGOTTEN HE DIED LAST ISSUE. #SARCASM). But aside from.... I guess June to motivate them and.... whatever the redhead's name is to do his mountain climbing stunt, there really doesn't seem to be any of that. And as I said, 'the red head.' Because I don't remember any of their names. None of them are memorable at all, they just fill out archtypes, and I can't find myself caring about any of them. They're not completely unlikable, but they aren't actually likable at all. Just flat.
And another thing, nothing really makes any sense. Why is any of this happening? What was the prompt for this? It doesn't feel like anything's 'truly' connected, all just a bunch of convenient occurrences. I mean, it sounds like that's kind of part of the point, but it makes the whole spiderweb plotline feel pretty shoddily designed.
And SPEAKING of tenuous connections, I don't WANT this series to be all part of some interconnected network. I'm probably jumping to conclusions, but when Rama Kushna is mentioned, some red lights go off in my head.
AND ANOTHER THING. Two months have passed since the last issue? Two months have passed and everyone's all honky dory like nothing insane happened? NOBODY is super shaken up about this? And they haven't tried to contact outside help? And the show is still in full production?
In Conclusion: 2.5/5
Eh. It's not terrible, but, it really isn't anything too special. I'd actually advise most people to just sit this arc out, which is the beauty of this series. If an arc is bad, wait it out, it won't have any relation to the next arc, so you won't miss anything. If you're a Jerry Ordway fan, you might get a little more out of this, but overall I give this a resounding 'meh.'
