Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
The Boys #49
Dynamite Comics
Ennis, Braun & Robertson
Butcher and The Boys continue down the road of a big confrontation with The Seven while we begin to get more glimpses into the first dust up with The Seven. The arc is also serving as the first real look at the character Hughie replaces: Mallory. The issue isn't as strong as others in the series, probably because it seems like the problems that existed for the first confrontation haven't changed enough to show even a little progression between the groups. I'll be looking for things to pick up for the anniversary issue.
The issue begins with the Homelander losing his mind. Not literally but damn near close enough. He's apparently in the men's room talking to himself. Well, he's having an argument with himself. It appears he's got multiple personalities and even worse, he seems to have a memory block between the personalities. When he does bad things the other sides to him don't seem to know of them. This was a difficult exchange to fully get into because he's not alone while he does this.
The Frenchman and The Female are witnessing the meltdown via the camera on the other side of the bathroom mirror. This was a bit of a reach for me because if the Homelander is so powerful that he can detect a person's heart rate change surely he would be able to see through the glass or sense the camera, no? You could also explain it away by saying that the Homelander was so blind with his own rage that his senses were dulled. Maybe, maybe not, but it just felt like this was just too unbelievable.
The bulk of the remainder of the issue has the first real taste of what the team was like when Mallory was on it. While older than Butcher it still seems like Butcher was running the show even in those days. I suppose I was expecting Mallory to be more of a mentor to Butcher but that does not seem to be the case. The issue ends with the first swipe taken between The Boys and The Seven. Finally.
The artwork is terrific. As usual, this comic book relies heavily on close ups and emotions and this art delivers that very well. However, the main problem is that the characters will always seem "right" when drawn by Robertson. It will just take some time for Braun to make this book his own but he is getting there.
We've waited a long time to get some of this background information. It's interesting that the most intriguing part of the book happens to be about the Homelander going crazy in the present but that's what makes this title so great in the first place. You just don't know how crazy things are going to get. This was a good, but not great read.
3 out of 5 Geek Goggles
