Salvation Run #5 (of 7) (DC – Sturges / Bennett / Brabo)
Trapped between the warring tribes led by The Joker and Lex Luthor, Catwoman is forced to make a deadly decision that will change several lives forever. The hostilities on Hell Planet are about to reach a boiling point, and nobody is a sure bet to make it out alive. And that’s before things get worse with the unexpected arrival of a new group looking to exterminate every villain in sight.
With issue #5, DC’s modern meta-human take on The Lord of the Flies starts it’s final climax. Tribe Joker and Tribe Luthor are being self-destructive in their war with each other. Vandal Savage has found the “promise land” with a few ladies of his choosing with full intentions of laying down his line on Planet Hell. Catwoman outs Martian Manhunter to take herself off the “suspect spy” list. After that, both tribes turn on Manhunter and eventually do take him down with the strategic leadership of Luthor. We also find out that it is Desaad that has secretly made the planet tougher for the meta-villains. Given that this issue supposedly lines up with Countdown #7, this doesn’t quite make sense. The rest of the series has been on target and enjoyable, so I will give the writer, Matthew Sturges the momentary benefit of doubt and hopefully he can help clear up this Desaad storyline in the last two issues. As far as the art goes, it’s pretty much solid, there are quite a few good splash pages and striking poses… but some of the detail gets lost in the action frames. Overall though, I’m still glad I’m picking this up.
Issue Grade: B+
Series Grade: A-
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