Comic Book Review: Battle for Bludhaven #6

The Revolution has enjoyed Battle for Bludhaven. This has been a fun mini-series involving tons of interesting characters. This week is a double shot for us with the finale to Battle for Bludhaven and the first issue of Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters. I am sure that Battle for Bludhaven #6 will be a satisfying ending and a nice lead-in to Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters #1. Let’s roll to this review.

Creative Team
Writers: Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti
Penciler: Dan Jurgens
Inker: Jimmy Palmiotti

Art Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: The issue starts with government scientists recovering Captain Atom from where the Atomic Knights had him stored. Captain Atom is highly unstable due to the breach in his cracked body. The scientists work frantically to place a suit of armor on Captain Atom in order to contain and stabilize his radiation leak. They accomplish their goal. The armor interfaces with Captain Atom’s brain and wakes him. Captain Atom then decides that all this fighting must stop. Now.

We then cut to the massive brawl between the Atomic Knights, S.H.A.D.E., the Titans, the Nuclear Legion and Green Lantern. The S.H.A.D.E. members agree that Major Force is insane and they won’t follow him anymore. Doll Man assumes control of the team and tells them to join the Titans fighting the Nuclear Legion. The Atomic Knights withdraw from the battle to find out why they have lost contact with Roundtable. Father Time then tells the S.H.A.D.E. members to withdraw and that they will blame everything on Major Force.

Captain Atom then arrives at the battlefield. He grabs Major Force and sucks all of his radioactive power from him. Captain Atom then tells everyone to flee Bludhaven or they will die. Green Lantern transports the Titans away from Bludhaven. We then see Captain Atom release a massive atomic explosion.
We then cut to the President of the United States delivering a State of the Union Address. He tells citizens of America that Bludhaven has been wipes off the face of the Earth. We see a giant crater where Bludhaven used to be. The President says that this tragic act has prompted the government to enact a special task force of moral metahuman agents designed to combat the increasing amount of metahuman terrorists that threaten America.

We then shift to the Atomic Knights three miles under Bludhaven. The biosphere level is still safe despite Captain Atom’s explosion. The Atomic Knights have thousands of cryogenic units filled with people that they saved from the blast zone. They then arrive to a massive door marked “Command-D.” End of issue.

Comments:
The Good: Battle for Bludhaven #6 was a solid issue. Gray and Palmiotti do a nice job putting a bow on this mini-series and laying the foundation for the new title Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters.

It was great to see Captain Atom back in action. The poor guy has been through so much and is understandably pissed off and over everything that is happening in Bludhaven. I actually think his armor looks ok, but I hope it is temporary because his silver look is far cooler.

Gray and Palmiotti do a good job showing the reader that the members of S.H.A.D.E. are actually good people. They turn on Major Force and are horrified at what they have done. You begin to see that the S.H.A.D.E. members have heroic hearts.

Captain Atom arriving at the battle and quickly dispatching Major Force was impressive. Captain Atom’s power level is insanely high. And then Captain Atom decides that there is only one way to end the madness in Bludhaven. Cleanse it in an atomic explosion. It was a very sobering picture to see a huge crater where Bludhaven used to stand. I’m a big Nightwing fan. Bludhaven is an interesting place where I have gotten to know well in all of Nightwing’s adventures. To see it completely wiped off the face of the Earth was shocking.

Then Gray and Palmiotti take a page from Marvel by addressing the threat of metahumans. Instead of going to path of a Registration Act in order to properly police all metahumans, Gray and Palmiotti take it in the direction of the Patriot Act. That the government must do everything in its power to battle metahuman terrorists. This is a natural evolution of this storyline. It was only a matter of time before both comic book companies felt the need to create stories to comment on the Patriot Act and the current political climate in America. I’m curious to see how biased that Gray and Palmiotti are going to be on this issue. I hope it isn’t as bad as Jenkins over on Civil War: Frontline.

I’m curious to see what the Atomic Knights are up to. All the animals that they have in cages. The humans who are cryogenically frozen. The entire biosphere. And just what is behind the door to Command D? Plenty of questions to address in the new Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters title.

Gray and Palmiotti do a nice job wrapping up the main story in Bludhaven and then laying the foundation for several interesting plotlines to be addressed over in Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters. I am very interested in reading that title. Which, luckily, also came out this week.

Gray and Palmiotti already got me interested in Phantom Lady and Human Bomb. In this issue, they got me interested in Doll Man. He is a pretty cool character. I like his take charge personality. I think many people’s initial impressions of Doll Man were incorrect. He is going to be an interesting character in the new Freedom Fighters title.

The Bad: The ending felt a bit rushed. And I’m surprised that Captain Atom thought that the only solution to solve the fighting in Bludhaven was to destroy the entire city. That seemed a bit extreme.

The art was weak. The art has been the Achilles’ heel for this title from the start. It is very old school in look. The art is quite stiff and lacks any dynamic appeal.

Overall: I have enjoyed this mini-series. Battle for Bludhaven had many different interesting plotlines and big cast of cool characters. Plus, this mini-series did a good job introducing the character who will make up the new Freedom Fighters and laid the foundation for their creation. I’m definitely looking forward to Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters #1.