Renee Montoya had one job as the head of security of the Watchtower, and so far, she has been terrible at it. Can she turn things around, or will she have to face unemployment… as well as the death of every superhero in the DC Universe because that’s what the Justice League is now?
I have a simple rule when it comes to evaluating a story taking place in an established universe — Is the story I’m reading following previously established rules and conventions? Or is it changing those rules to fit the story better? This comic does the latter and quite poorly. The villain of this series, Cyborg Superman, can now use his technopathic abilities to manipulate the Phantom Zone to get himself free from it (?). Except he needed help to do it, which is why he used the Eradicator and the others (??). And he also gained mind control abilities in the interim (?????).
But that’s just me looking for logic in a plot that lacks any. The Cyborg Superman’s hatred of the Justice League is unwarranted (especially since we see Superman, who he used to blame for his friends’ deaths and doesn’t even mention him). He could be replaced with Brainiac or Failsafe or Kilg%re or the Thinker or a drunk Mother Box given his weak motivations and Saturday morning cartoon levels of villainy.
Speaking of Saturday morning cartoons, name a cliche that exists in fiction and it probably exists in this series. Appealing to someone being mind controlled to break free? Check. The hero having a crisis of faith only to overcome it because we’re in the third act? Check. The villain needlessly rambling exposition to his underlings who are aware of his plans? Check. The hero and his ex who are forced to work together share a moment where one of them goes, “I got you”? Check. The hero somehow has the durability of a cockroach even though they should have died multiple times already? Check. The villain keeps the heroes around to gloat just so that they can escape and thwart his plans? Check.The hero is the only special one who can stop this despite the presence of more competent and capable individuals? Check.
I’d tell you to make a drinking game out of taking shots whenever a cliche occurs, but you’d be dead from liver failure before this comic ended.
Recommended If
- You are buying this book just to support Renee Montoya in the hopes that one day she’ll get a title that does her justice
Overall
The Question: All Along the Watchtower #4 is a visually uninteresting, generic, cliche-ridden, confusing mess of a comic. This series only seems to exist due to the popularity of the Question in the series Justice League Unlimited, as there seems to be no other valid reason for this story to exist. I’m not even sure there was a way to salvage this story, and frankly, I cannot bring myself to care.
Score: 3/10
Disclaimer: DC Comics provided Batman News with a copy of this comic for the purpose of this review.
