Watch, the

Posted: Wednesday, January 10, 2001
By: Darren Schroeder

Cover of Watch, the Writer(s): Christian Read
Artist(s): Scott Fraser
Publishers: Phosphorescent Comics
From: 2062
Price:

Superheroes, Love them or hate them, you can't escape the hold they have of the minds of so many comic creators. They are where the glory and the money is in the industry. Christian and Fraser can't be blamed for wanting a piece of the action, but in their attempt they highlight some of the weakness of the genre.

Their story openes with the testimony of Batt. He's all wrapped up in bandages after a savage battle that claimed the lives of his fellow team members of the Law Brigade. We are introduced to the six Superheros only to see them die in a variety of grisly ways over the course of a couple of pages. These are disposable characters with silly names and no personalities. There's no reason that we should care about what happens to them.

Interspersed with Batt's testimony we are introduced to a new band of Superheros who enjoy killing unarmed opponents and have silly names such as Bones, Xenia, Adapt, Fall out......They get to fight lots of mercenaries and a guy who has a zipper in his chest that when opened causes him to self destruct. Luckily one of the team (I forget which) is able to telepathically probe his mind finds that this battle has something to do with the death of the Law Brigade.

So, two fight scenes in the first issue with lots of expository dialogue to let us know what the members powers and silly names are. The only Characterization on display is how much they each smile as they beat someone up.

Scots stylish artwork is full of angular action and ink sprays of blood. It is very energetic, shame he has to waste it on this.

In a Word: Combative.



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