REVIEW: The Movement #3

Or – “This Could Get Ugly…”

Last issue, winged warrior Katharsis found herself surrounded by a Legion of armed police officers, all of whom were ready to crack her skull to bring her (and The Movement) down.  Judging from the cover, there’s a chance she didn’t go quietly…  Your Major Spoilers review awaits!

THE MOVEMENT #3
Writer: Gail Simone
Artist: Freddie Williams II
Colorist: Chris Sotomayor
Letterer: Carlos M. Mangual
Editor: Joey Cavalieri
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $2.99

Previously in The Movement:  Coral City is a particularly ugly place, one where you’re in as much jeopardy with the official law enforcement as you are with the punks and murderers.  It’s also a city with secrets, not the least of which is a mysterious murderer killing the homeless and disenfranchised.  That’s where Virtue and her crew come in…

ENTER: THE RAINMAKER

Of course, not all of the crew are on the same page, as we saw last issue when Katharsis refused to go along with Virtue’s agenda, and ended up on the wrong end of several dozen guns.  Last issue, Katharsis even made the point that she herself was a police officer, but nonetheless #3 opens with the shocking visual of an entire S.W.A.T. team brutally beating the crap out of her.  It’s unnerving to see a hero figure so terribly outgunned, covered in her own blood, a moment made all the worse by the seeming glee of the officers, and the fact that Katharsis looks like a woman barely out of her teens.  While their angriest member gets beaten down, the rest of the team confront Rainmaker and her own tribe of lost souls, finding themselves terribly outgunned by her powers.  (I was going to call her “the former member of Gen 13, Rainmaker”, but I’m pretty sure that there has yet to be a Gen 13 in this reality, so…  Once and future member?)  Interestingly, though, for all the revolutionary talk in play, Simone takes the time to once again allow the captured police in The Movement’s brig a moment to point out that their methods don’t exactly match their ethos, much to the annoyance of young Vengeance Moth.

“ALSO, I THINK OUR NEW GUY MIGHT BE SATAN.  THAT’S BAD, RIGHT?”

As the issue continues, we get another murder, some leads on the main suspect, and more beating of Katharsis (who I hope at least has a healing factor or something, because… yikes) and while Rainmaker cannot join The Movement (darn), she gives them the first solid lead on what is really happening in the city.  Freddie Williams is one of those artists that I can’t ever quite make my mind up about, as his work can be maddeningly inconsistent, and occasionally even seem sloppy.  This issue doesn’t have that problem for me, with lots of great expression, and a wonderful visual moment wherein police Captain Mears enters his office to find Virtue in his chair, drinking his coffee.  Simone’s dialogue is a big star this issue (especially Mouse, whose “I kinda wanna bite down” is both silly and horrifying all at once) and the issue ends with a very intimidating, if seemingly ill-advised power-play on Virtue’s part.  I find myself wanting to buy next issue just to see the bastards get their comeuppance, and I’m drawn more and more into the massive hive of scum and villainy that is Coral City…

THE BOTTOM LINE: IMPRESSIVE AND ENGAGING.

Most of the books in the New DC have been about relaunching existing properties, and retooling characters who never quite caught on, but this book is one of the first to take an entirely new concept and run with it.  Tonally, it reminds me of Tony Isabella’s runs on ‘Black Lightning’ in the 70s and the 90s, with a world that clearly has superhumans in it, but still has the same ills and the same human problems regardless.  The Movement #3 is a good book, one that seems to be getting tied to a political POV more than the actual content would seem to warrant, delivering thought-provoking action that doesn’t feel overly familiar to me, earning an impressive 4 out of 5 stars overall.  I’m enjoying the way this story is unfolding, and hope to see more brilliance (and maybe a little payback for Katharsis) in the coming issues…