DC Comics reviews for 8/15/18

New Challengers #4

The fourth chapter of New Challengers features fights with warlords, zombies and dinosaurs, but the most captivating aspect of the issue was the backstory for one of the team members.

Bethany has developed a cynical perspective on life and death. In every instance she’s cheated death another loved one takes her place. With the team desperate to get back to Challengers Mountain, Bethany takes the lead to ensure that this time she leaves no one behind.

Writers Aaron Gillespie and Scott Snyder tell a compelling ‘origin story,’ which helps to make her more relatable.
The action is fun even if the zombies are a bit too sophisticated in their strategy and dialogue. It was nice to see the

Challengers starting to bond and fight as a team instead of individuals. There’s even a well-timed cameo by a DC A-list hero.

V Ken Marion’s art is mostly solid though I wish he’d do a better job of distinguishing between Bethany and Trish. Otherwise, New Challengers is a good fit for his style. Marion delivers on the bombastic action sequences and doesn’t have any trouble on the slower moments.

Once again, there’s a crazy cliffhanger with this issue. New Challengers has a classic old school feel with plenty of reasons to highly anticipate the next installment. This has been a fun ride so far.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Photo Credit: DC Comics