Shocking Surprise Villain!.... Oh God, Pun Honestly Not Intended
The Good: Definitely a nice cover, it still makes me wish we could have Khary Randolph on interiors, but the perspective of this cover works far better than the last one. It's compelling and right in your face.
Static is absolutely on fire in this issue, his quips are on a serious roll. Does it make him like Spider-Man? Yeah, you could easily say that. But has Static always been like that? Absolutely. If nothing else, Rozum and McDaniel understand Static's character very well.
The reintroduction of Q-Juice as major plot point is a predictable one, but none the less a very good choice for a plot device. The risks and rewards are very clearly laid out in very clearly villainous terms. The machinations of Piranha and The Pale Man are becoming clearer, and the overarching story is actually starting to take a cohesive form.
I didn't expect the twist to The Pale Man, and it's actually far better than any I had come up with. I'm thankful he isn't just a cheesy Joker rip off. The DCU is full as it is with two sucessful Joker clones, I think it would be stretching things to a ridiculous point by trying to make lightning strike three times.
There's a fantastic new subplot that's worked into this issue that makes things just tense enough. We have just the right amount of factions working against each other to be chaotic and unpredictable without being confusing.
We get some acknowledgement of Dakota and how things all fit together in the grand scheme of Static's Milestone adventures vs. the New 52, and why he's in New York, and how it affects him.
NO WAY! The solicit promised a Dakota villain's return, but I did NOT expect.... Wow. Awesome.
The Bad: The beginning of this issue is unbelievably awkward. It makes you feel like you missed an issue, and I thought my recollection of #3 might have been off, but alas, I was wrong. Static goes from having just 'defeated' Virule at the end of last issue and flying away, to right in the middle of a fight with someone completely random and new in the beginning of this issue; and there's no justification. It's just a random fight stuck in there without framing, and it doesn't even get any later on.
The end of the issue has an equally awkward pacing to it, in a completely different way. It feels like a DVD that skipped a scene.
The massive revelation I desperately avoided in my review is something that's going to fly over a LOT of heads. The Milestone character who makes an appearance is really obscure, even though they're a key part of the entire Dakotaverse. Only Milestone alumni will understand the significance of the character.
The pacing in the issue as a whole was a little spotty. Things didn't always feel like they were patchworked into the right place at the right times.
In Conclusion: 4/5
Overall, this was a pretty solid issue with some fairly glaring flaws. I can only personally overlook them due to the success of the surprise. Milestone allumni will get a LOT more out of this than those who are new to Static or even only know him through the animated series. But overall this series still isn't quite what the original was. Static is just Static, there's not enough focus on 'Vrigil Ovid Hawkins.
