Electric Warrior #9



"Future Frankensteins"
writer: Doug Moench
pencils/co-plotter: Jim Baikie
inks: ? Marcos
letters: Todd Klein
colors: ? Hoolahan

grade: C-

It's obvious that Doug was quite proud of this issue. After 8 issues of build-up, his responses in the letter column seem positively giddy with silliness, even the credits at the beginning are bolder than usual, and let's not forget that front cover caption promising "The REAL first issue!"

I wish I felt it.

This actually wasn't a first issue, but more of a "just-before-the-first-issue" story, ending with the introduction of the protagonist we've waited eight long months to meet and still no real understanding of who or what he is beyond the obvious. Somehow, the pages upon pages we spend in Two Shadow's head prior to this point, replaying his past and exploring the odd sensations in his present, don't add up to the supremely pissed off anti-hero that shows up at the end. It makes sense on paper that he'd be this angry, but I felt none of that rage building up throughout all of this.

Certainly, Baikie's art was no help. Oh, he tried to go surreal and expressive, but it largely didn't work. I suspect the few truly expressive panels (the machine grinding out Dereks and the final Electric Warrior shrouded in shadows) were prescribed by Moench's script, as they did not fit the generally grounded and inexpressive visuals Baikie was providing otherwise. Sadly, asked to show the inner mental workings of a man machine, Baikie seemed able to do little more than conjure sad imitations of Tron.

And the actual look of our Eternal Warrior at the end -- blech. And I thought 9-03 had looked silly.

Beyond all this though, what truly frustrated me about this issue was that, by the end, I still wasn't sure who our main character was. The issue is shown from Derek's perspective, but the final being we meet acts nothing like him, and Moench adds the (probably intentionally) confusing narration of:

"9-03 lives again, his spark of humanity completely doused, within the dead metal shell of Derek Two-Shadow"

We could have had eight more pages to get to know the character after that, but the story stops short on that note and then offers us a forgettable back-up story about the legacy 9-03 has left with the Zigs. I don't know whether this was done to give Baikie catch-up time (Moench clearly indicates that he's struggling to meet deadlines in the letter column) or because Moench wanted to tease us further.

Either way, 9 issues in, I still feel that we haven't hit the first issue, and it's finally beginning to bug me.


Minor details:

- We learn a lot about Derek's past life in this issue, perhaps most significantly learning that Rektek was a father figure to Derek throughout his boyhood (not previously implied) and that Simon was like his brother. While I'd been far more interested in learning about Derek's early days as a Zig, we didn't learn anything by seeing this that wasn't already obvious (no binded head, mom wanted something better for him). However, the minor parallel between Derek's mom and Quintana, both wishing to spare Derek from "binding" was probably the only evocative moment in the entire issue.

- It would have been a nice move to show a non-self aware 9-03 present at some point in Derek's flashback to his early days, running from the 'leks.

- It's beginning to seem like that "heart" from 9-03 that Kinsolving is carrying around is going to become important later on. It's certainly getting an inordinate amount of attention , even more so than the actual grief Kinsolving is feeling.

- I feel like Moench is working far too hard to keep Zeedle and Janda in the story. Their single panel appearance in this issue felt very forced.

- When Marder calls his engineer "Techno" on page 17, it got me thinking for the first time that the class system of this society may be based upon your ability to utilize technology. Perhaps the "Techno" Cluster (upper class) is called this because they all work as various types of engineers to keep the city running. Of course, this would contradict the implications 9-03 made in his debate with Quintana that there was no true reason why one group was on top and another on the bottom.

- Within one page of attaining consciousness for the first time, our new hybrid protagonist instantly realizes that "somebody preserved my mind." Just like 9-03's initial moments of consciousness, this feels a bit too rushed and artificial. Why would he have such a clear understanding of what is happening to him right away?


In the end, this really wasn't the issue I'd hoped for. Hopefully, the next one will be.

Electric Warrior #10



“Two Shadows, Both Loaded”
writer: Doug Moench
pencils: Jim Baikie
inks: Pablo Marcos
letters: Todd Klein
colors: Nancy Hoolahan
editor: Doug Moench

grade: A-

Well here's the real first issue. Doug promises this for the second time and, this time, I feel he's correct. He also indicates that DC put forth extra effort at his request to solicit this issue, and while that sounds like a good thing, it also suggests to me that the book is not doing well. And, after all, it will be canceled in only nine more issues.

As for the issue itself, I REALLY enjoyed it. Things are finally, truly happening, and a sense of maddening gleeful destruction pervades as our new protagonist struggles with his delight in destroying (seemingly with good reason and to further good causes, though this is questionable), Marder's government truly begins to topple, the Zig rebellions begin to escalate, Quintana's mind is snapped, and Amber Brightstar appears to have killed herself. Powerful desctruction all around, and it was exhilarating and liberating to watch so much of the corrupt structure of ths series premise topple in this issue, yet it left me with the same guilty questioning conscience that haunts Derek. Certainly, that final haunting moment, in which he pursues Kinsolving (out of love, we presume) but then refers to her as “bitch” and indicates he only wants back the piece of 9-03 she possesses, floored me and left little doubt that all is not well – this destruction is not a good thing, and our protagonist is in grave moral danger.

Unfortunately, Baikie's art is really starting to bug me. Not only is his inexpressiveness holding back a damn powerful issue, but even his faces are starting to annoy me. Everything feels a little clumsy and awkward. He's holding back the book.

On a related note, in the letter column, Doug indicates that both Aztec Ace and Slash Marauder are on hold due to the artists' inability to attend to the books on a monthly schedule. We saw this happen with Ploog on Planet of the Apes as well. I've commented before on my understanding that Doug was always particularly kind and giving in working with his artists, and I wonder now if he didn't get taken advantage of for that reason. In this book, Baikie keeps getting co-creator credits for doing very little and meanwhile turns in C to D level artwork while lagging behind on deadlines. Moench's work deserves better than this.


Minor details:

Love the first page, explaining in great visual detail how Derek's face was reconstructed though, again, Baikie's pencils are far too literal in depicting this, completely missing the emotional componant that Moench was inevitably going for in beginning with Derek's surgical death and rebirth.

So Prime electric Warriors are Blue, the next best ones are Red, and 9-03's blue/gray group appeared to be bottom of the line.

Marder indicates that part of the reason for wanting cyborg leks was that the cost to maintain regular leks was too high, yet 9-03 indicated to Kinsolving that he required no maintenance. I would think the delicate interactions between biology and hardware would require MORE maintenance, especially as organic material ages. Remember, 9-03 had been in service for over 200 years.

Silver Simon is finally getting a major role to play as a Zig leader and co-conspirator with Marder's political opponents, and now with cyborg primmies following him.
-
Watching Derek relive 9-03s first moments of consciousness with Kinsolving was an absolute highlight of this issue, though no mention of the initial red dreams are made. 9-03's awareness now appears to have begun with Kinsolving “sparking” it by confronting him and commenting on his small act of sympathy toward a dead zig by straightening its leg.

Derek reconfigures his wrist blaster to autodestruct other Ews without even actively considering it and then kills three without even looking at them. Bad-ass.

Zeedle, Janda, and Astronomer Drax all still feel superfluous to this title. When will they earn meaningful roles in the story?

GREAT issue overall, but Baikie's pencils are still holding it back, and Hoolahan's colors are still too bright and primary as well, fighting the dark tones Moench paints in his script.

While thwhtguardian remains in the red space, I'll keep going with these reviews and hope he's sparked again soon.


Electric Warrior #14



"Knights of Chaos"
writer: Doug Moench
co-plotter/pencils: Jim Baikie
inks: Dennis Janke
letters: Duncan Andrews
colors: Nansi Hoolahan

grade: B

Finally, after 14 issues, this series finally takes a real direction. This issue, in which Two Shadow (I guess this is the most accurate name with which to describe our protagonist) leads a revolt on the city, gains complete control over all electric warriors in the city, and wins, was positively thrilling.

Of course, it still suffered from some drawbacks, most significantly including Baikie's passionless art (aside from that one awesome shot of Silver Simon and Amber Brightstar on page 7 and the disturbing flashback panel on page 13) and, more significantly, Moench struggling with a sense of scope. By this I mean that we watch a full-blown revolution overtake an entire city, and yet we see precisely two minor battles, and absolutely every zig and every gentrix mutant are characterized in the exact same way (including Zeedle, with Janda functioning as nothing more than his superego, leaving me to wonder why Moench keeps bending over backwards to put them in the center of the action at all times for absolutely no good reason). I was glad, at least, when Moench finally depicted two Techno Sector soldiers debating about the revolution on page 10. It's truly the first time we've ever stepped outside of the perspectives of our limited cast of central characters in this book.

I remember back in one of Moench's first Batman stories (possibly the very first) he spent most of an issue depicting the lives and thoughts of a random handful of average Gotham City citizens on a single evening, and it blew me away because each character felt thoroughly authentic and real. Yet, in this series, we're still not getting that depth from our main characters, let alone the myriad of people involved in the revolution they are waging. When those raging fires sweep the Warrens, for example, Baikie doesn't depict a single person caught in the flames, and Moench doesn't reflect on it. All that's mentioned is Two-Shadow's relief that Kinsolving wasn't caught in it.

In my mind the true wonder of this series isn't the protagonists; it's the compelling city and the clash of competing classes and cultures that takes place within it. Moench isn't exploring that anymore. He gave us five mouthpieces for those cultures -- Quintana, Marder, Two Shadow, Zeedle/Janda, and Kinsolving, and now each is too distracted with pressing events to continue in those roles, yet no one else has taken their places. Where are moments like the one early on when a starving boy looks up to the higher levels for discarded food and is met with a discarded bottle? Where are the PEOPLE in this city beyond our central cast?

Still, this was an exciting story, bringing events to a compelling climax with yet a new conflict on the horizon and even dropping a hint as to a future storyline down the road (Two-Shadow's random recovered memory). And, in addition, it was great to see Two Shadow finally use that human ingenuity to defeat his enemies.


Minor details:

- Two Shadow tells all the Zigs and Genetrix that Kalashka is bad and should be overthrown, and they all just buy it with no questions? I can understand their rationales for wanting to follow -- any kind of revolution is desirable, they want to be empowered by following him, he resembles their "Silver Savior," etc, but Moench could have at least depicted some of this through conversation or narration. Again, the zigs and genetrix don't come off like people, but rather are depicted like faceless pawns.

- So there are acid sprinklers covering every inch of the Warrens? How in the world could that be practical, how would Two Shadow stop them all so quickly, and how could a resource depleted society possibly have that much acid to rain down regularly unless they are recylcing it from factory waste or something?

- Silver Simon continues to impress me, largely by remaining enigmatic, thus implying a depth about him that we know none of the other characters in the story possess. In this issue, I enjoyed seeing the contradiction between how violent and ruthless he could be even to Amber Brightstar while still maintaining respect for Two Shadow. I want to see Moench take it deeper.

- The relationship between 9-03 and Two-Shadow still seems forced and weird. I'm choosing to believe it's all Two-Shadow somehow processing his duel reality in the form of two personalities rather than any kind of actual "ghost in the machine" that he is speaking with.

- I have to admit that I'm finally becoming intrigued about the back history of this society, though I find it insultingly convenient that Kinsolving ended up being a "longevity experiment" survivor who seems to be the only person in the entire city capable of revealing the answers. Once again, Moench works too hard to keep unimpressive but familiar characters in the center of the action instead of expanding the spotlight outward into a city of countless potential co-protagonists. Quintana, Kinsolving, Zeedle, and Janda need to be retired at this point. They no longer belong in this story, and it feels artificial, forced, and weird when Moench keeps finding ways to keep them central to the action.

- I believe this is the first time we've seen the series leks that 9-03 was from since the first two issues. I suppose Two Shadow exhausted the city's supplies of the higher end models by this point.

- Moench promises that we'll learn more about Astronomer Drax next issue. WHY? Once again, Moench latches on to characters that hold no interest to the reader. Drax has provided zero usefulness to this story and his being a fatalistic drunk was funny for approximately one panel. What more could this character possibly have to offer us?

- Moench finally explains Two-Shadow's name in the letters column:

"The name Two-Shadow refers to the two sides of the character: An out-wardly serene Primmie nevertheless haunted by the internal turbulence of his City origins. He reflects (casts shadows from) both places. And now he has a third aspect -- that of the first two combined and synthesized."

The problem is that I don't see it. This new character bears no resemblance to the troubled but idealistic and wise character we met in the earlier issues. We saw his cleverness again in this issue, and he clearly misses Amber Brightstar, but nothing that really mattered about the old character appears to have been preserved.

- Additionally, Moench provides a long explanation for 9-03's transformation, ultimately remarking that he never really did achieve consciousness but rather truly was malfunctioning and simply replicating the human ideals and behaviors he had witnessed through popular media (again, how would he have seen this? Do leks watch TV?). I think this is too reductive, ignoring what I took to be the larger message that martyrs inspire, but they aren't realistic and aren't sufficient for creating real change. 9-03 is an unrealistic and unsuccessful ideal compared to the more realistic and potentially effective example of Cyber Two-Shadow as leader. Still, Moench creates a rather poetic epitaph for 9-03 that would have made his ending more tragic and evocative had this sentiment been more clearly expressed then:

"My stab at irony lies in the fact that this hellish truth is driven home by a machine whose code of thought and conduct is a literal transliteration of all the lofties aspirations born of philosophers, Sunday Schools, and Julie Andrews. We preach love and we wage war and thus it has ever been. And this was, finally, enough to drive a logical but defective machine mad-mad enough to die for our sins."

I really didn't see all that in what happened with 9-03, and I can't even reconcile it with what I read in hindsight, but it would have been a damn powerful direction for Moench to have taken with the character.