Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

DC Universe Last Will & Testament #1
DC Comics
Meltzer, Kubert, Kubert & Dell

This one shot does a quick lap around some of the main players in the DCU on the eve of a huge battle. It focuses on one low level hero, Geo-Force, and how he deals with his demons. The story is very interesting and has a great and unique ending, but I felt the story was told in such a way that I didn’t really care about this character, whom I know very little about. In some ways, I couldn’t even figure out how he was considered a hero. The artwork was very strong. Overall, this comic probably wasn’t worth the extra buck in price based on my level of enjoyment.

The issue opens with Geo-Force and Black Lightning pondering the pending doom. It sets up the issue nicely for the battle that Geo-Force wants to embark on as a warm-up. They argue over the idea of killing Deathstroke as a means of revenge for Geo-Force. Basically, Deathstroke killed his sister and was an all around bad person so Geo-Force wants him dead.

All while this story with Geo-Force and Deathstroke plays out, we get snippets of others from the DCU showing us how they would spend their last night alive. Wonder Woman and Donna hang out in a cemetery. Captain Cold becomes not so Cold. Batman and Robin share a moment swinging from building to building. This is important because it actually has an interesting monologue from Robin about who the first born is. It almost implies who might be the next Batman, eh? I guess I’m stretching on that one.

Next comes two conversations with a priest. I don’t recognize him, but I guess he holds some meaning in the DCU. First, Hawkgirl checks in and she apparently has lost her mind since her series was cancelled. Then we get Geo-Force, who opens up how he wants to kill a man.

After some more setting of the table, Deathstroke and Geo-Force finally confront each other. Deathstroke out smarts him and plays some major mind games with him. The ending offers a very tension filled and surprising twist. There is only one problem for me: I didn’t care what happened to Geo-Force.

This isn’t to say the story wasn’t good. On the contrary, it was really exciting in the end, but here is the analogy I can make. I read Final Crisis Requiem and didn’t know one thing about Martian Manhunter and yet it was presented in such a way that I felt for the character. This story I knew nothing about Geo-Force and yet by the end of the comic I still didn’t really care. As a matter of fact, I also knew so little about Deathstroke I found myself not really caring about him either. I was indifferent as to the outcome of their battle as well as their personal struggles. That to me was the flaw in this comic.

I don’t know what could have been done better for me to invest myself in this thing, but whatever it was I doubt it sat in the artwork. I enjoyed the tension displayed, the blood in the fighting on the pages, the tears in the eyes, but again, I just didn’t find myself really caring about Geo-Force.

I would think this isn’t a Final Crisis type comic so it must tie to the Justice League series somehow, but in any event, I would think you need to know something about Geo-Force to really care for his plight in this comic. Also, you probably need to like the character enough to want to read a whole story about him. Personally speaking, I didn’t fall into these categories. It’s an interesting story and it’s told in a drama packed form, but I guess it proves you can’t just drop any old character into a story to make it great.

3 out of 5 geek goggles