The Twelve #6 (of 12) (Marvel – Straczynski / Weston / Leach / Chuckry)
The Laughing Mask–behind bars! Secrets of the Black Widow–revealed! Dynamic Man kicks ass! The Blue Blade bombs out! And the truth behind the origin of underground secret agent Rockman!
Once again The Twelve delivers! We get a few vignettes about the group, and the beautiful thing is that none seem trivial or just page fillers. The Laughing Mask has run-ins with modern law enforcement and finds out being a vigilante is no longer on the blue “cool” list. The Black Widow has found herslef a home in an underground goth community. Dynamic Man, the “media darling”, is doing his best to save the world, but yet again we see his prejudices stick out.
Master Mind Excello is foreseeing some great “wrong” coming on the horizon. The ego-maniacal Blue Blade’s variety show bombs horribly and Captain Wonder continues stoically doing what he thinks is good, without taking into account anyone or anything else. These 2-3 pages glimpses all frame Rockman’s origins. This tragedy is beautifully told by Mr. Straczynski and is quite possibly one of the most original and fresh origin stories I have heard in quite a while. Also, it looks like the Phantom Report got his gumption back!
If you are not reading The Twelve, then you are missing out on one of the best books of the year!
Issue Grade: A
Series Grade: A
