For a moment, I thought that Johns had veered into excessive exposition when it came to Cyborg's narrating his reconstruction. But, it's actually touching. Johns uses it to give us a real insight into Victor's thinking, showing him embracing his role as Cyborg, but using this second chance to do it in a way that maximizes his humanity. I laughed when he said that he'd like to be able to walk into a "Coffee Bean" without breaking the door frame. He accepts that he'll never be "normal" again, but that doesn't mean that he has to be a monster. For Victor's sake, I hope that proves to be true.
Of course, the most important part is the him choosing to become a cyborg again, rather than having his father make that decision for him, as he did the first time. It not only shows Victor embracing his role a hero, but also sets up a reconciliation between the pair. I haven't necessarily bought his father's attempts at apologizing to Victor for his role in turning him into a cyborg in the past, but Johns finally sells it to me here. After all, it makes sense that he'd be driven to question his role in his son's life before the accident, given that it's this lack of a role that leads to him turning Victor into a cyborg in the first place. Although it's not exactly clear what alternative that Dr. Stone thinks that he has here other than doing it again (given that Victor's essentially a torso with half a head), Johns makes the reader understand that his reluctance to do so comes from a profound sense of disappointment in himself for setting up the circumstances that makes it necessary. Instead, he accepts Victor's plea for assistance and helps him become a better version of the hero that he already is; it also helps him see the hero that he is. Now, I can't wait to see Victor go kick some ass.
(On a side note, I'll say that the Doom Patrol intro made very little sense to me, since I know next to nothing about them or the "Chief" that apparently put them together. Moreover, I'm not really sure why the explosives destroyed Karma. If his "defensive telepathic nerve pulse disruption" means that someone can't hit him, wouldn't it also work for explosives? Or, does it have to be tactile? I guess that it doesn't matter since he seems dead as a doornail.)
*** (three of five stars)
No comments:
Post a Comment