Dynamo 5, Volume 3: Fresh Blood

Dynamo 5 #3

by Jay Faerber, Mahmud Asrar (Artist), Yildiray Cinar (Artist)

Dynamo 5 has disbanded! As super-villains mount an all-out attack on Tower City, Scrap gathers together four new heroes to become a new Dynamo 5. But does this new team have what it takes? Or will their mission end in tradedy? Collects Dynamo 5 #14-19.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Superheroes

144 pages, Paperback

First published August 12, 2009

Reviews

[47Time · Rating 4 out of 5]

The artist knows too well what I like. All those flattering angles make this story that much more enjoyable. Hmmm... maybe a bit too flattering... the butt-shots and high kicks are welcome, though I just bet other readers will complain. Still, fan service. You gotta love it.

With Maddie in a coma and Dynamo 5 effectively disbanded, the streets of Tower City are turned into a war zone. FLAG is losing ground to the supervillains. Well, that was fast! Vigil begins cleaning up the streets. Scrap, the melee fighter on Dynamo 5, is the first to help out.

Scrap and Vigil bring in a few more supes to build a proper team to defend the city. During a fight that isn't going their way, it's revealed that Vigil is in fact Widowmaker, the one who killed Captain Dynamo. She infiltrated the good guys to sabotage them. Her plan manages to reunite Dynamo 5 instead. They kick a## and take names. Later, the one who hired them kills himself before being arrested by FLAG.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Faerber & Asrar's fun, dysfunctional family superhero drama rolls on. Here, we're introduced to more young heroes that Tower City needs as Dynamo 5 falters and the big bad is revealed. Faerber's plot is comic booky goodness and reminds me of Invincible. There were some obvious twists that I wished were less so but I did really enjoy the look back into Maddie's life. I also think the book could use downtime to look into the kid's lives. Asrar handled most the art chores and was really good. Overall, another fun read.

[Sarospice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Farber and Asrar are firing on all cylinders and it's infectious fun! Heck, they get rid of the entire te and you still care what's going on. The writing keeps you guessing and is so tight. I like the art but a bit more clarity of people out of costume would help. Do I have to read Noble Causes now too?

[Carl Siggins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still a really enjoyable series, I like the artwork and the fact pacing of the story.

[Garrett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Downgraded one star due to the somewhat disappointing and anti-climactic nature of one of the plot elements: This is redeemed by the slickness of the writing that made me like the hastily assembled team that patrols Tower City when the Dynamo 5 are off wrestling with their various emotional angsts. Still embracing the tropes of comics but turning them on their heads, the art here has become more polished in the hands of Asrar, but he's having to shift some duties, and that's always a little disappointing when you love someone's style. Good stuff, looking forward to seeing how it all turns out.

[Brad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two lines from my review of the last volume hold true:
1. The dysfunctional family/team soap opera continues.
2. The other highlight is the repetitive but always enjoyable cliffhanger endings to each issue.
This book seems to be treading water in superhero tropes. The team disbands then reforms with an almost entirely new cast, a la the Avengers in 1965. (It's issue 16 in both books that feature the new lineups.) And a secretive new member's identity is revealed in what doesn't amount to that much of a surprise.
Out of all the new characters popping up in this book, I really enjoyed the mother/daughter Firebirds and the crazed man-in-a-robot Slaughterhouse. (I bought the Firebirds single issue Jay Faerber wrote, but still haven't read it. That's nagging at me now.) The single issue focusing on the psychic life of Maddie Moyer, this book's Lois Lane with an even stronger military background, is also pretty good. But overall, the book feels too crowded. Having lots going on in a story is way better than having nothing going on, but it's hard to figure out what Faerber's focus with the book is. To me, it drifts too far from the "strangers bound by fate and a father they never knew" slogan on the cover.

[Joe Sergi · Rating 5 out of 5]

The basic plot is simple yet creative. Captain Dynamo was a great superhero with numerous abilities who protected Tower City. He married an intrepid reporter (and secret agent) named Maddie Warner. However, Captain Dynamo was also an unfaithful letch and constantly cheated on his wife, fathering numerous illegimate children. After Dynamo is murdered, Maddie gathers five of these illegimate children (each with a different aspect of Dynamo's powers) and forms Dynamo 5 to protect Tower City.

What makes the comic great is Faerber's excellent story telling and focus on the family dynamic aspect to the book. This is not new territory as Faerber, who is also the creator behind Noble Causes. I should mention that Image recently released two very affordable archive editions for Noble Causes (V.1 and v.2). Both are must reads and actually feature the first appearance (and death) of Captain Dynamo. I guess that makes Dynamo 5 a spin-off of Noble causes.