I must state up front, I haven’t read an issue of ‘Voodoo’ since the first. So I wasn’t 100% clear on everything going on here, but here we go. Voodoo sneaks into a secret archeological site and finds her Daemonite battle ship that she used to reach Earth. She plans to use its communications equipment to beam the information she has stolen from the government back to her home world. She is stopped by a fellow Daemonite masquerading as a human male. She initially tries to distract him with her boobs, until she realizes his true nature. It turns out that the male Daemonite is a purist and considers Voodoo, who is a hybrid, to be an abomination. They morph into their monstrous forms and battle.
Meanwhile, we check in with Black Razor agent Fallon, who is packing her belongings and preparing to leave. She chats with a super being called Black Jack and the pair take off, after Fallon appears to have an epiphany. Voodoo and the Daemonite continue slugging it out, until she uses her telepathic abilities to enter his mind and learn his fears and weaknesses, which involve Grifter and Stormwatch, the other two Wildstorm properties that were folded into the DC Universe at the start of the ‘New 52.’ Unfortunately, this action drains Voodoo of her power and the Daemonite appears to have the upper hand. She rallies, though and proceeds with her mission. She begins broadcasting her notes, but spies a file with her name on it. She clicks it and makes a startling discovery about her very nature!
As a kid, I read all kinds of comics, when and where ever I could find them. This means a lot of the times, I didn’t get all of one story in one sitting or I read things out of order and so forth. My belief is that even if you don’t get one complete story in a single issue of a comic, the portion you do receive should be entertaining enough on its own and hopefully entice you to keep reading.
So while I haven’t read the three issues between #1 and this issue, was this issue enjoyable enough on its own? It was… okay. It wasn’t horrendous. And I know horrendous. The art, by Sami Basri, is quite appealing. Ironically, I’ve criticized a lot of ‘New 52’ books like ‘Teen Titans’ for looking too “90s Image Comics,” yet this book, which is actually based on a 90s Image Comic, looks nothing like those! It’s very clean and attractive! The glowing effects, provided by colorist Jessica Kholinne, are really nifty looking! Overall, it’s a very nice-looking book.
The storytelling, unfortunately doesn’t do it for me. Agent Fallon doesn’t have a ton to do, but what I saw of her here, she’s a fairly by-the-numbers “tough female agent.” I’ve seen her type a million times, so she falls flat. Voodoo comes across as too alien and is impossible to relate to. I actually cringed when she attempted to seduce the Daemonite male, before realizing he wasn’t human. With so much scrutiny on females in comics, it’s kind of a nervy choice. It wasn’t as awful as other depictions, but it was… off-putting, I suppose.
This book doesn’t sell that well and reading this, I see why. While far from terrible, it’s just… there. The best I can say is it’s nice to look at. It’s not exciting. It’s not unique. It doesn’t really have much of a voice. It’s just super mediocre! And with so many choices out there, I don’t have room in my long boxes for mediocrity.
Verdict: Burn
VOODOO #5
Written by Josh Williamson
Art by Sami Basri
Cover by John Tyler Christopher
