Fathom Blue #4

   I may be wrong about this series.

   I've been assuming that Fathom Blue is a comic about a team, with the opening storyline giving us the origin of the group of heroes.

   It's been a bit difficult to follow, as the team is being assembled by shady forces in the military (of course) to tackle special missions - but this may not be a team of heroes.

   Circumstances - which have the team fighting for their freedom from the control of the leader of this military force - may force them into a fight against the nation, which will leave them branded as traitors.

   I think. It's all a bit muddled, and I admit I'm still trying to sort out the characters.

   Here the team works together to escape, only to turn themselves back over to the same forces. So why did they escape? Or did they do it to meet with a sympathetic agent? No idea.

   The series has a lot of potential, but it's going to have to work harder at giving us a reason to root for the team. Just having them manipulated by a sleazy military guy feels like lazy storytelling.

   Flesh out their personalities, give them some motivation, let them act like heroes. Or villains. Give us something to hold onto!

Grade: C

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Fathom Blue #3

   Every self-respecting comic book company needs a super-team (or two or three), and that's the goal with Apsen's Fathom Blue.

   It's a team gathered by the U.S. Government (I think) to fight back against any deep-sea menaces, such as those posed by the powerhouse members of the race known as The Blue.

   The team bristles when a threat appears - but their leader, Elia Fawn (a sympathetic but tough member of The Blue), goes to face the threat alone.

   The art by Claudio Avella, Chaz Riggs, Gabe Carrasco and Mark Roslan is very good - attractive, with solid character designs and strong layouts.

   But the story by Vince Hernandez doesn't give the art team much room to shine. Half the book is given over to lots of standing around and talking, and the action sequence is just ok.

   For a team to work, there needs to be strong interaction - characters the reader can root for (or against), and they need to be distinctive. There's not much effort made to bring new readers up to speed or to explain who the characters are.

   I hate the old "group splash page with each character labeled" trick, but it would come in handy with a team filled with (mostly) new characters.

Grade: B-

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