DC Comics reviews for 7/18/18

New Challengers #3

We’re already at the halfway point of New Challengers and we’re not getting a ton of answers yet. If anything, writers Scott Snyder and Aaron Gillespie are only dishing out more questions. That’s not a bad thing as it’s prevented New Challengers from becoming predictable or boring.

This issue finds the New Challengers face to face with the original Challengers. Longtime comic book fans might find this reminiscent of the new international X-Men meeting the first team. New mysteries are raised, punches are thrown and the Challengers have to battle barbarians at the gate? Yeah, DC definitely doesn’t have another book on the stands like this one and it’s making for one heck of a fun ride.

Similar to the previous two issues, Snyder and Gillespie devote half the issue to the backstory of one of the New Challengers. It’s a good way to create the reader connections with the characters, but I’d like to see more interaction between the team members. The group hasn’t had many opportunities to gel yet and some of it is simply a lack of ‘screen time’ together. That’s the biggest issue with this limited series team book. Have we as the readers gotten enough time to invest in this team and characters?

Andy Kubert handles most of the issue’s artwork with his signature grandiose style. Kubert always does a tremendous job as a storyteller and having nine characters to juggle doesn’t slow him down at all. Some of the pages look amazing and really took me into the fantastic world the creative team is establishing. V Ken Marion might be one of DC’s busiest artists as he’s constantly doing pop-up fill-in duty. Marion completes the issue in sort of a transition role before moving on as the ongoing artists for the rest of the series.

New Challengers continues to be an unpredictable ride and with yet another unexpected cliffhanger the twists don’t look like they’re going to stop anytime soon.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Photo Credit: DC Comics