Voodoo #9 Review

Summary

Pris wakes from a nightmare in a cell and trains with the Black Hawks. In the jungles of South America Voodoo seeks out Helspont the most powerful Daemonite. He tests her before sending her to the Daemonite graveyard on Saturn. Pris senses where her “sister” is going and warns the Black Hawks who take her to a daemonite ship which responds to her presence. Under great stress she flies the ship to Saturn to intercept Voodoo and stop her once and for all.

The Good

Art- Sami Basri’s art is still the star of the show in this series. Even the violence is rendered so lovely you can’t help but love it.

Voodoo-Deliciously viscous and deadly but lacking the introspection which made her such an interesting protagonist when this series started. She makes for an interesting foil to the more conservative Pris so let’s see where this goes.

Pris–Simpering and weak but as the template for Voodoo this girl clearly has more power than she realizes. Curious she wakes up in a jail cell…….not even she realizes that she’s traded one cell for another. She’s only “free” in that she occasionally gets let out of her cell whereas before she was just shackled. Another question, why is she working with the Black Hawks did they not only capture but torture her? I’m clearly missing something here!

The Invasion-The Daemonites are taking Earth and Voodoo is just a tip of the iceberg. Justice League Dark, Grifter and even in Superman the effects can be both seen and felt all around the new DCU. Voodoo is a pivotal part of the new status-quot.

Mirror- The fight (expertly illustrated by Sami Basri of course) typifies the difference in power and temperament between Voodoo and Pris. One is more volatile, confident and she has her powers under control, the other lacks control, confidence and it this meek mild mannered African American who grates on the nerves. This works well for both original fans and new as they literally have a version of voodoo to pick from, one clean and wholesome and one filled with murderous rage and far from clean or wholesome.

The Bad

Cover- Gone is the stellar cover art of Voodoo #1-#5 this is adequate but doesn’t have the polish of earlier covers.

Direction- Nine issues in and I still don’t know how to classify this book…is a spy book? It’s not straight up superhero or anti-hero…..(scratches head)

The Ugly

Still have no idea how to classify this book or its direction…does it even have a direction? It’s pretty and shines light on the integration of the Wildstorm universe into DC. Voodoo and her template Pris both have a way to go before either truly becomes more than the paper their printed on but the good outweighs the bad so we award this issue a 3/5

Respect the only female black character with her own monthly comic from the big two (Marvel and DC)