Review: DC Doc Savage#2/First Wave #2

The second issue of both came out this week and like an idiot kid who keeps sticking a paperclip in an electrical socket, despite being shocked time and again, I picked them up. Where Doc Savage and The Avenger are concerned, I tend to be a bit of a completist—even if the material is not up to par. And as far as reviving long-established archetypical pulp heroes goes, this material is not. If you are going to revamp a character, you best make damn sure you bring something new and engaging to it, something that respects the source material, while adding something that elevates above its original incarnation. This effort falls far short.

If possible, the second issues are worse than the first for both. First Wave #1 was mostly just flat. The second shows a marked unfamiliarity with the characters or a deliberate disdain for their milieu. The artwork by Rags Morales is very nice. The characterizations are poor. However, it is better than the second Doc Savage issue. Why they even bothered to include this bastardized version of the Avenger in this mess is a mystery. The Spirit probably holds up the best (and his solo first issue wasn’t too bad), though Ebony is now a girl and he walks around without his mask too much, which is out of character. The Blackhawks have turned into morally questionable opts for hire.

The second Doc issue is a mess. I normally do like Howard Porter’s artwork and liked it in the first issue, but in the second there are some oddities. The Avenger artwork by Scott Hampton is just totally flat and lifeless. The flow and dialog in the Doc Savage lead story are choppy and disjointed. At points it’s hard to tell quite what is going on. Not sure if this is the writer, artist, or a combination of both, but it’s awkward and distracting. The pacing reads like pumping a brake pedal on an icy road. I want to like this book, but right now it just is not working as Doc Savage or strong graphic story-telling. I don’t mind some tinkering, the alternate world thing or what have you, but don’t take everything that makes a character distinct and dilute it. On the plus side, it does show some respect to the lead character and I think the author is genuinely trying to walk the line. It may be an editorial rein holding him in.

The second feature, Justice, Inc., is not even worth reading. No respect, no homage, just some alien landscape and character jammed into a licensed commodity. I never thought I would hope for a quick demise for anything associated with The Avenger, but I sincerely hope this flatlines before the character is totally ruined for the modern audience. And can we please dispense with the pseudo grittiness and pop culture dialog, yo?