Written by: Scott Lobdell
Art by: Kenneth Rocafort
Publisher: DC Comics
This issue feel like a two fold, in one instance it seems like a standalone somewhat of an origin story of Artemis, and on the other hand, it is a set up for the next major arc of this book. Problem becomes managing both of those instances, and Scott Lobdell succeeds at it only somewhat.
Lobdell was the writer on many books back in New 52 era, namely Teen Titans, and Red Hood and the Outlaws team of that era as well. Unlike in that book, it does look like DC has put on some creative decision making back into the hands of the creators themselves. Lobdell here gives us a backstory of Artemis, which both explains her reasoning behind leaving Themyscyra and even joining the Outlaws. He does give us a little bit of a background here behind her character, even though it does feel a little bit shallow, that shallowness though is not because of Lobdell’s writing per say, it’s more due to Artemis’ character, as she doesn’t like to reveal everything about herself to anyone. Another thing that works great here is Jason’s interruptions in the story, and Artemis’ responses to it. It’s solidly written book, that looks like it’s going to give us a pretty interesting arc down the line.
Scott Lobdell here is joined by probably one of the best artists out there right now. And Kenneth Rocafort shows that here yet again, with vivid description of the characters, and the backgrounds, both in the bar where Jason and Artemis are at, and also during the flashback story sequence as well. Lobdell and Rocafort have worked together in the past, and it is very clear here that they understand how each other works, and it’s always fun to get a writer/artist combination that just clicks and knows each others strengths and weaknesses. As I am concerned one of the most important things I personally love about Rocafort’s art is his attention to detail, regardless if it is a main character or a person in the background. It is nice to see Rocafort on a DC book again, if only for this prologue issue. It does seem like a bit of a tease, but we do have something to look forward to, once he does another book again, which hopefully is going to be sooner rather than later. There is something to say about an artist that takes his time and portrays every character with a care they deserve, and that’s certainly what we have here. That is certainly seen in the close ups of the characters. It’s always nice to see great art kick off an interesting storyline.
Overall, this is a pretty solid chapter in this series. There are definitely some tropes here in a background story, but it was portrayed well, and it does seem like we are going to get a pretty interesting arc going forward, so for that I believe this chapter was a success. We also had a book done by Kenneth Rocafort so that’s always a plus. But if you don’t like these characters already, this book won’t change your mind.
