Deathmatch #7
They say that the truth sets you free, sadly in this story that isn’t the case. Here we finally learn the truth as to why both these heroes and villains find themselves stuck in this deathmatch. Hasn’t been confirmed by the heroes questioning the truth, but it’s easy enough to put the pieces together yourself. I really do have to say I enjoy this bleak world that Paul Jenkins has created. Twisted and perverted the idea of heroics and put these people into a situation in which there’s little to no hope for them.
The only thing that still bothers me though small is Omni Engine’s evil voice in his head. This has been dragging on for a while now and I would love to see some action influenced by those thoughts. At the moment he is just quivering and showing no emotion and he just becomes that one character that I care least about. I’m hoping this leads to something important, but until then I see it as a waste of time.
Aside from this the momentum of this book is admirable. The pacing in general. Between the fights and them trying to figure out the situation they’re in you find yourself really pulled into this story. Sure some of the fights seem rushed, but you wouldn’t want to waste too much time on fights that don’t have a major impact on the conflict at hand. Everything no matter how small works as a piece of a puzzle, and as a layered story it manages to remain on track while diving into what makes these characters tick. Normally you’d expect spectacle over substance in a book like this though Jenkins manages to take advantage of both.