Team 7 #4

The Possession of Slade Wilson

Due to the....interesting run in Catwoman, I felt I was obligated to read some more of the crossover “The Black Diamond Probability.” Without any central narrative to follow, I figured it would be most advantageous to read the issue that happened most recently chronologically. As with last month, that means I picked up Team 7. Seeing as this is not a Bat Family title, I will probably make this review brief.

I really enjoyed this title last month. The art was excellent and the team had good chemistry. Does this issue also fulfill my darkest desires, or is it just a black hole of despair?

In this issue, the rest of Team 7 tries to escape from an Eclipso possessed Slade Wilson while Grifter stays behind and makes a stand.

Turning, Corrupting, Abusing

Overall, the art is nearly as good in this issue as it was in the last, but I cannot say there were any panels which left me in awe. I think the reason the last issue impressed me more artistically was that there were beautiful panels which highlighted the island setting whereas this issue was much more action focused, but still, there was plenty of artistic eye candy (of the non-sexual variety) with beautifully rendered characters and actions.

The story, however, did not satisfy me quite as well. There appears to still be some good chemistry between characters, but there is not near as much interaction this go around beyond the necessities of the battle. Grifter is still funny, and there are some lines from other characters which may hold some emotional weight or character significance to those who have been following the series closely, but for a newcomer like me, it was pretty bland from a character perspective.

The battle was a mixed bag as well. We basically have a huge, mega powerful villain versus a bunch of people with basically human level skills, and that somewhat limits the kind of fight the creative team could deliver. For the most part, I enjoyed the way Team 7 responded to the crisis, but the wrap up seemed a bit rushed to me. It felt very much like, “Oh well, we are out of time. Everything is okay, and let's get ready for the next arch.” Perhaps there was subtext to the story I missed, but it all felt very surface to me.

On the positive side, it did answer one of the questions I had about Catwoman's crossover issues.

Conclusion 7/10

This is an okay issue. If you've been following and enjoying the arch, then there is no reason not to finish it, but if you are looking for a jumping on point, I'd try next issue.

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