Family Values

The Family Dynamic #1

A new all-ages book from DC — this one focuses on the Spencers, a Canadian family with a secret identity as a superteam called the Family Dynamic. The dad, Pyralis, controls fire; Sirocco, the mom, is a wind generator; eldest son Troylus is a water blaster; and younger son Terran is an earth elemental. They all get their powers from a set of rings that have been in the family at least a generation or two. A lot of this first issue is focused on establishing the backstory, thanks to a news interview by a reporter who’s also a superhero in his off-time. And there are another couple of superheroes in town, a mother-daughter team called Blackbird and Little Wing. Add a couple of clownish villains called Tragedy Ann and Tom Foolery, and the stage is set for lots of superhero action…

Verdict: Thumbs up. This looks like it’ll be a lot of fun. Already getting some interesting conflicts set up among the various superheroes, and everyone’s personalities seem solid and interesting. If I’ve got a complaint, it’s that we just barely learn the characters’ real names — the names are buried way back in the story, when in the first issue of a comic, you should really make sure that all the characters have been properly and clearly introduced to the readers. But again, minor quibble there — the rest is plenty of fun.

Young X-Men #5

The mask is off — “Cyclops” is really the evil cyborg Donald Pierce in disguise! As Graymalkin and Magma scare Pierce off and return Dust to her natural form, while Rockslide, Wolf Club, and Ink fight Sunspot and Cannonball. Eventually, everyone realizes they’re on the same side, and they track down Pierce so they can rescue Blindfold and Dani Moonstar. And though they’re able to beat Pierce in the end, he manages to kill Wolf Cub.

Verdict: Thumbs down. Aside from the story being a bit of a letdown, I’m disappointed that they killed Wolf Cub. Sure, it was telegraphed from the beginning — who else were they gonna kill? A brand new character like Graymalkin? The quirky blind girl with the wacky speech patterns? The charismatic rock-covered tough guy? The token religious minority? So if someone had to die, it was obviously going to be Wolf Cub. I’m just disappointed that they felt they had to kill him at all. He could’ve developed into an interesting character, with a little effort. And besides, I’m really getting tired of comics killing off characters for cheap shock-value.