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Rating: Summary: Pure Garbage Review: Don't let the fact that Warren Ellis wrote this series fool you into buying the trade. DV8: NEIGHBORHOOD THREAT is nothing like his work on Stormwatch or Authority. It's his earliest Wildstorm work, and it shows. DV8 is a group of super-powered youngsters who are no squeaky-clean Teen Titans. Instead, these characters are despicable rotten no-goodniks who belong in detention. Granted, there could be some promise here, provided it is handled with care. If only!
Instead of conveying the bad nature of these characters through a sensible storyline or subtle characterization, Ellis takes the easy way out, filling these stories with short bits consisting of bad attitudes, casual drug use, cursing, kinky sex/incest, and a disregard for life. Agreed, these elements have been used in his other books, but not to the point of substituting for plot. For good measure, Ellis inserts a few more devices from the Quentin Tarrantino School of Writing: inbred rednecks, torture, and, in the worst case of filler I've ever seen, an issue devoted solely to seeing which team member can tell the worst gross-out story. Add to this the tired, faux-manga art of Humberto Ramos, and you've got a book that represents the worst of Wildstorm studios, or of any publisher in general.
Rating: Summary: Bad People Doing Bad Things To Other Bad People. Review: What would a group of super-powered teen-agers REALLY be like? Certainly not fresh-faced do-gooders, as Gen13 or Generation X would have us believe. But I'd hope they wouldn't be QUITE as bad as The Deviants, the protagonists of DV8: Neighborhood Threat. As portrayed by Writer Warren Ellis, The Deviants are foul-mouthed, immoral, murderous, horny, incestuous, lazy, greedy punks, at the mercy of their handler, Ivana Baiul, and her crony, the crazed Sideways Bob. Ivana has her own mysterious agenda, often sending the kids on suicide missions just because she can. As bad as The Deviants are, though, the people they come up against are even worse, and it does provide a vicarious thrill to see The Deviants dish out a well deserved serving of comeuppance to these baddies. Ellis' stories are compelling, and the characters are all nicely developed by the end of the collection. The art (By Humberto Ramos) is nice, but at times it's hard to make out what's going on in a panel. (This is some of his earlier work.) The book also includes a new introduction by Ellis, and a cover gallery of the reprinted issues (#'s 1-6, and the special Wizard #1/2 issue), including the "Seven Deadly Sins" variant covers for issue #1. Overall, it's a fun read for people with strong stomachs. Here's hoping DC collects the rest of Ellis' DV8 run.
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