Previously on Dynamo 5 – Sins of the Father: Mega-hero Captain Dynamo was one of the most powerful heroes on the planet, he was also a bit of a philanderer, so after he died, his 5 illegitimate children each inherited one of his great powers. Now, the legacy of one of dear old dad’s greatest battles has hit the 5 smack dab in the face (literally). The battle has been raging, with heroes all over the Image Universe lending a hand. Now Dynamo 5 is on the verge of surrendering our issue opens…
You can’t fault Jay Faerber for not giving you bang for your buck! In this issue we’re fully introduced to a new super-team which may or may not have Captain Dynamo himself as a member, a possible death of a hero, and an absurd (yet awesome) two-page spread featuring a massive humpback whale! This is all wrapped inside the massive fracas that this mini revolves around. It seems that FLAG, one of those clandestine-type government organizations that just happens to have a connection to Dynamo 5, has decided that the team is not doing their best. They send their own team, The Primaries, to clean things up. After flaunting their supposed superiority a bit, The Primaries, Dynamo 5, and various unaffiliated Image heroes team up to fight their common enemies. There is a lot of the great character work that Faerber is known for. This is good, seeing as the whole issue is a fight scene, makes it read just a bit quickly. Everything comes to a head when D5 member Smasher’s girlfriend Firebird gets to do her impression of a shish kebab. This of course sends the man into a frenzy where he promptly… teleports away? Not quite it seems, as the story ends we see Smasher making a choice to finally end the melee, but will it be for the good of everyone? We’ll have to tune in next time to find out!
As for the Notorious backup, things are coming to a head there as well. Mobster turned hero (but still mobster) Notorious is ambushed, by an assassin hired to kill him by the mob he is trying to take down from the inside, but he ultimately comes out on top. The next day he finds himself given the opportunity he’s been looking for since he started this business of playing “hero” and starts to set up his final revenge. I wouldn’t be too surprised if the mobsters he’s working with/against aren’t wise to him, but again we’ll have to wait and see until next issue.
Overall, I would have to give this issue 3.5 dead humans. It’s a good issue, but it is also the penultimate issue of a mini-series, meaning if you are starting from this point you’ll be lost. I am sure it’ll read well in the inevitable trade. I also took slight marks off for the main feature’s art by Júlio Brilha. It’s perfectly suitable, and not “bad” per se, but I think he might benefit a bit if he had someone else inking over him rather than have him do double duty.
DYNAMO 5: SINS OF THE FATHER #4 (of 5)
story JAY FAERBER
art JULIO BRILHA
cover MAHMUD A. ASRAR & RON RILEY
incentive cover CORY WALKER & RON RILEY
SEPTEMBER 22
32 PAGES / FC
$3.99
Thanks to guest writer Shaz-Bot! for this thorough review. You can read his random, directionless blog at Epic Randomness