- May 25, 2022
Devil’s Reign: Omega #1 Review
Written by: Chip Zdarsky, Rodney Barnes, Jim Zub
Art by: Rafael De Latorre, Guillermo Sanna, Luciano Vecchio
Coloring by: Federico Blee, Dijjo Lima, Carlos Lopez, Java Tartaglia
Lettering by: VC’s Clayton Cowles, VC’s Joe Sabino
Editing by: Tom Groneman, Devin Lewis, Martin Biro, Annalise Bissa, Tom Brevoort
This cap to Devil’s Reign does what most Omega issues do, which is set up a new status quo for a bunch of series afterward. If you didn’t know what Daredevil was doing after the hand, you do now. If you didn’t know that Luke Cage is the mayor and clean up New York, you do now.
The surprising thing is how much it focuses on Luke Cage as the mayor. Putting such a ground-level hero in such a human political position is exciting. This feels like a kick in the butt to tell relevant stories with the character. The weird thing is, I have no idea where these stories will be after this book.
Luke Cage’s last solo comic was canceled before it came out, and this issue doesn’t end with a series announcement. If there’s no place for us to read the story what’s the point of setting up a new status quo with him as mayor and potentially a new foster son? Devil’s Reign Omega feels a bit pointless in that regard.
As a collection of standalone stories, it’s still pretty good, the second and last particularly. It gets to the core of Luke Cage’s character and how down-to-earth he is. Comic book fans constantly bill Marvel as a place full of human superheroes, and Luke Cage is a character who displays that more than most. When he says he’s going to fix the system for the city he loves, you believe it. The creative team matches that energy well.
But the second story, the one that sets up the Thunderbolts, doesn’t capture that. The way Luke Cage tries to get Monica Rambeau to lead the team feels so politician-y, so unlike him. That’s the only series that’s close to confirming Luke Cage as a recurring character, and if this is his characterization for it, I’m nervous as all hell.
So overall, this issue is good with one pretty decent blemish. It doesn’t match the quality of the main story, but that’s okay. Its an epilogue that does it’s job well enough.