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This book is good but not great. Which is fine; lots of comic books out there aren't even good. But Manhunter seems like it should be great. All the pieces are there, and there are lots of things to like here. I like showing what happens when a supervillain gets arrested and goes on trial (Kate calls Hawkman and Superman as witnesses in the trial of Shadow Thief for the murder of Firestorm). I like that Superman takes the time to sign a photo for Kate's son. I like that Andreyko delves into the history of DC's various Manhunters, showing her as the latest in a lineage (DC's sense of history and tradition was the highlight of the post-Crisis/pre-Flashpoint universe). I like that Kate isn't always nice, struggles with smoking, and has an ex-henchman she goes to for technical support.

But the book never clicks as much as I want it to. The trial of Shadow Thief is interrupted by various supervillains trying to kill him so he can't testify against them, a mistrial is declared... and that's it, the storyline is over while they wait for a new trial to come along. The Manhunter stuff just gets confusing because there's so many Manhunters, and I've even read the issue of Secret Origins that organized all their histories into one coherent narrative. And bringing it all in for a five-issue story doesn't quite work because it pulls this series away from its core purpose a little too much: how does Kate carry out the kind of justice the legal system won't let her?

That said, the stories are decent. I like the sense of Kate as someone who struggles in combat, who is improvising and doing her best, and sometimes failing. She gets beat up, she suffers, but she plunges back into it all. She has tenacity and luck on her side-- she survives a fight with Cheshire, which might seem improable, but is mostly because she cares more than Cheshire. Cheshire is a hired gun and has a reason to just give up, while Kate has a dozen reasons to just keep going regardless.

Anyway, I like it, and I'll obviously keep reading. But I'm still hoping that Manhunter delivers on its potential.

Manhunter: « Previous in sequence | Next in sequence »

Manhunter's second volume. This time with more Manhunters. Dead Manhunters. While Kate Spencer is busy prosecuting Shadow Thief, someone's been going around killing everyone else using the name "Manhunter".

Interesting enough diverting little story. Have vague feeling it wasn't as good as the first, but meh. Oh, and I noted in my first review that the author wanted "average sized breasts" on his superhero. I just noted that and moved on. I suppose I should make a point of noting that a woman with breasts larger than Wonder Woman's are, at least in this specific volume, can't really be described as having "average sized breasts". But, that's not important. ( )

Standard DC art. Decent plot by their standards. Meh. ( )

I was a little nervous when I saw that this volume seemed to rely so heavily on crossover events, and sure enough, the constant parade of obscure (and not-so-obscure) DC characters was a bit annoying.

Still Manhunter manages to avoid most of the pitfalls that sunk She-Hulk (kind of a hard comparison to avoid, although they're very different from one another). Kate's story is still her own. I do wish that more time had been spent exploring the legacy of the previous Manhunters (I'm assuming that this will continue to play a role in the future of the series), but since the next volume is titled "Origins", I'm willing to give this one a pass. ( )