Feedback
This reviewer is open to getting feedback
e-mail from readers. You may email her at:
haines@ev1.net
|
|
|
Detective Comics #773
Bridget Haines |
| Title: |
|
Atonement Pt. 1 |
| Cover Date: |
October 2002 |
| Story: |
Greg Rucka |
| Pencils: |
Steve Lieber |
| Inks: |
Mark McKenna |
| Colors and Separations: |
Jason Wright / Wildstorm FX |
|
Synopsis: (WARNING! SPOILERS!)
The first installment of Atonement finally
returns us fully to the situation of Sasha
Bordeaux. She is still in prison, and at
odds with an inmate named Vicki, pending
her release from the confession of David
Cain regarding Vesper's murder. Bruce Wayne
has had his name cleared and his lawyer is
making sure the media knows it. Back at Wayne
Manor a somewhat despondent Bruce is told
by Alfred Sasha can have visitors. Bruce
states "not yet." He has Alfred
contact Sasha's attorney to work on overturning
her conviction. He doesn't care how they
do it, he wants her out.
Meanwhile in Blackgate Sasha is attacked
by Queen Vicki in the exercise yard and struck
in the abdomen with a dumbell. Alesandra
Taracon (Cucilla) witnesses it but does nothing
to stop it. She tells her attorney she had
an accident but refuses to go to the infirmary.
He tells her it may take a month or longer
to get her out with the processing of paperwork
due to the confession. Sasha is in great
pain from her injury. She refuses help from
Bruce's attorney, wanting to do this alone
without anything from Bruce. At chow Sasha
starts bleeding from her mouth and collapses.
Cucilla calls for help.
Elsewhere a viewscreen shows
Taracon, then
Huntress and Sasha in her vigilante
garb
discussing the incident in which
Cucilla
was safely apprehended. A woman
discusses
her w/ith someone off camera.
They link Sasha
to the vigilante and she is declared
to be
"Agent Midnight's"
new assignment.
Alfred goes to see Sasha and
finds her no
longer on the list for visitors.
The guard
calls up to find out why she
is not there,
and tells Alfred that he'll need
to talk
to the warden. When Alfred argues
with the
man, he confesses he fact that
Sasha is dead.
Alfred relays the news of Sasha's
death to
Bruce. Vicki's attack had torn
her liver,
which led to extensive internal
hemorrhaging.
Bruce states he's going to find
her and that
she has no siblings and her parents
died
when she was only 20, and she
has no other
relations, so whoever claimed
the body wasn't
family. He believes she's alive.
Analysis:
Cover:  (2 of 5cowls)
Hrm...not my cup of tea. This cover by Bill
Sienkiewicz and Alex Sinclair was of a sketchy
loose ink style that doesn't appeal much
to me, and though the foreground conveyed
what was inside moderately well, the image
of Batman in the background was sort of against
every bit of the Batman persona we all know.
The colors were very subdued, nothing on
it stood out, and it blended into the racks.
Story: (4 of 5 cowls)
I don't know if I like where the story is
going, as I'm fearing the inevitable "Sasha
leaves forever to do something else and is
easily forgotten" or "Sasha dies"
conclusion to what was one of the bright
spots of TEC the last few years. Her working
with the Bat, their interaction, her feelings
for Bruce and the day job side of it all
really worked well. But the story in this
issue is interesting enough. Those who Cucilla
really works for have pegged Sasha as the
unnamed vigilanted from the "Last Laugh"
series, and now are interested in her. Sasha
apparently dies, but Bruce refuses to believe
it. We find Bruce very somber and one can't
help but wonder about his feelings for her
though of course he'd deny them. A strong
story that makes me crave the next issue.
Artwork: (4 of 5 cowls)
YAY! Lieber's back! The early pages of the
book seem a little weak onimage composition,
but about page 7 it starts to come together
a bit better. Without a word on that page
it conveys an awful lot to the reader. The
bright yellow and orange of the prison scenes
does not do much for me, but its a color
scheme they've stuck to all through Sasha's
stay there. Even though we only see him briefly
this issue, Lieber continues to draw such
a great Bat that the last two pages end up
my favorite.
[Top]
|
|
