The Rogues have arrived in Gorilla City and their plan’s underway…but the big snag comes from an unexpected source: Sam Simeon, the gorilla who gave Len the inspiration for the heist years ago. He’s back in town and notices Len and co sneaking around, and gives Len a violent beating before demanding to know why he’s there. Sam also tipped off Grodd about an underling who went against his wishes, leading to the murder of said lackey. At the same time he clearly has his doubts about the citizens left behind by Grodd’s kleptocracy, so it’s not clear what his agenda is.
Gorilla City is being run like a mafia fiefdom with a large seamy underbelly in which the Rogues are understandably rather at home, sometimes uncomfortably so. Evan gets offered drugs and is clearly tempted, though Frankie looks after him and tries to keep him away from it. (In fact the two of them look after each other throughout the issue, as he helps her with the intense headaches from using her powers.) Surprisingly, there are other humans in the city, and it’s not explained how they got there since the city is hidden away from outsiders and it takes James’ wiliness to figure out how to get inside. It’s unlikely that Grodd brought the humans there, and probably most of his inner circle didn’t either since they find outsiders blasphemous. It’d be nice if there’s an offhand mention at some point of how the humans got there, but at least it explains why the Rogues don’t stand out as much as they should.
James is still being a jerk and a bully, but he pulls his weight in this issue and helps out in ways the others can’t. And Evan’s not really back to normal yet, but is increasingly able to contribute and plans to be their getaway; hopefully he won’t choke when they need him. Frankie helps out by righting their boat and offering input about technology around them because of her abilities. Lisa, Ben, and Mick continue to be voices of sober reason and are much of the quiet intelligence that keeps the group moving and alive. And Len is interesting: he does help out, of course, by piloting the boat and motivating the group to keep going when otherwise they’d probably turn back, but he too is also kind of a bully who points his cold gun at the team when they aren’t doing what he wants. He reminds them that they’re there because they’re accessories to murder, which of course he committed, and seems to consider this heist more about him and his ego than it is about them as a group. His comment “I’ve…we’ve come too far to turn back now” is telling. James is the overt asshole everyone can see, but Len’s the sneakier one and may not even realize he’s doing it. But he can still cause harm regardless, and his pushing may get some of his friends and even his sister killed.
It’s a very good issue, and probably the last before things start going really badly for the Rogues. I have a couple of lingering questions that it’d be nice to get answered before the series ends, including why Evan apparently can’t get them inside the vault when it’s taken for granted that he can get them out, but these are not hugely significant quibbles. And I’m a little puzzled by the sequence at the end of the issue, when Len seems to be crippled by self-doubt but also may have a premonition of the beating by Sam Simeon; if that was a psychic assault, why does he collect himself and not seem to expect an attacker? Or maybe I’m just misreading the art, which is a little more ambiguous in the scene than I’d like. But maybe we’ll get some answers next issue, including whether Sam still has psionic powers and is related to Grodd in this AU.
So I’m still enjoying the story and hoping that the next two issues won’t be too grim and gory. Thus far the story’s done a pretty good job of not making things excessively violent or edgy, which I appreciate, but we know the poo will start hitting the fan soon. I don’t mind things going south or even AU Rogues dying, but hope that we don’t get Kryptonian spines ripped out or Rogues’ heads put on pikes. However, I’m looking forward to seeing where the story goes and how it ends.
For the most part, I really enjoyed this issue. I loved the “Rogues on a boat” sequence, and James actually made me laugh a few times. He’s still a massive jerk, but he seemed a bit more like his classic self in this issue. Len’s managed to strike a reasonably good balance between “manipulative jerk” and “tired, broken old man”; I liked the conversation between him and Lisa about their mom. Lisa, Bronze Tiger, Magenta, and Mick are all being handled well, and I really liked the relationship between Evan and Frankie (who I don’t think have ever really interacted on panel before). In fact, Evan was strangely adorable for the whole issue.
Grodd was pretty horrifying, but…that’s Grodd for you. He’s definitely still in-character. The gore got ramped up in this issue thanks to him, but it could still be a lot worse, and hopefully the creative team realizes that less is more when it comes to graphic violence. Because I, too, will probably be put off of this mini-series if people’s spines get ripped out on-panel.
Ironically, the most horrifying aspect of the issue was the way Grodd’s wife was drawn. This is what a female gorilla looks like:
This is what female gorillas from Gorilla City looked like in the Silver Age:
So WHY does Grodd’s wife look like a slender human woman? WHY? None of the male gorillas are anthropomorphized like that. The dress makes sense; Grodd’s inner circle are all wearing suits. But she should still look, you know, like a gorilla!
I have no idea why this bothered me so much, but for some reason it did.
Yeah, the thing with Grodd’s significant other was weird. I almost wonder if she’s a human-gorilla hybrid, and if anyone could do that it’d be the science of Gorilla City, but maybe that’s just how the artist thought female gorillas should be drawn to make the gender differences obvious. It’s a pretty good shorthand to show how male-dominated the society is, because unless most of the female gorillas do look like the males, it seems like they’re generally shut away at home like Grodd’s wife. Or they aren’t particularly visible, at least. But agreed, the female gorillas shouldn’t look like that.
Evan really has been endearing thus far, I’m rooting for him. And I like he and Frankie looking out for each other, as they’re both vulnerable people and probably recognize that in the other.
