Bombshells United #17 Review

Writer: Marguerite Bennett

Artist: Siya Oum

Colorist: J. Nanjan

Letterer: Wes Abbott

Published by: DC Comics

With only three issues remaining in the long-running digital-first series, this new issue of Bombshells United seems to be going for broke with its storylines, incorporating four pretty major events happening all throughout the issue. Bennett mentions all four but after review, seems to only have expanded on three of them, which is a little strange. With all these ideas on full display, does Bennett succeed in making a coherent comic? Well…

First, the good. I really enjoyed the how Bennett chose to frame this issue while taking full advantage of the time-period Bombshells is set in. On the very first page we get a child, wearing a Batwoman logo baseball cap, intently listening to the radio as the announcer leads him, as well as the readers, through the newsreels.

Having Siya Oum back on art is also another positive for the issue since I’ve enjoyed her work in the past and she brings her own style to the issue every time.

That’s the good. The bad of the issue is almost the same but for different reasons. The idea of having the newsreel is the connecting factor for the events that transpire is a good one. However, in execution, it falls decidedly flat. The main reason for this is simple: Bennett is using an almost shotgun approach to these final issues, introducing way too many scenarios at once. It also seems to reward longtime readers by tying loose threads from previous issues, but I can only speculate that this was Bennett’s intent. Why you may ask? As someone who only started reading with United, I was completely lost throughout this issue and made it to the end not knowing what was really happening most of the time.

It also doesn’t help that the anchorman for the newsreel introduces four stories, but the one tied to General Zod is conspicuously absent from the remainder of the issue… unless it was linked to the Flash appearance midway through that to my eyes, made no sense and felt more like a “Here’s the Flash! She hasn’t been seen in a while” instead of an actual plot point.

On the art front, J. Nanjan has been the colourist throughout this series, but for some reason, seems to have been rushed in this issue. At times, the colours compliment Oum’s pencils, but other times flatten the pencils out completely making it look, dare I say, amateurish. It’s too bad that this is happening with the end of the series on the horizon.