Writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Alex Maleev did not craft a true ending to “Event Leviathan.” Instead of wrapping up the story of Leviathan, “Event Leviathan” #6’s final page featured the rebooted spy organization plotting their next steps. Leviathan teased that something even more insidious was on the way and that “Event Leviathan” was only the first step of the plan. The more decompressed nature of the debut Leviathan mini-series was slightly maddening. Bendis and Maleev now have the opportunity to adapt to that criticism in the new one-shot “Leviathan Dawn” #1 which sets the table for the upcoming “Event Leviathan: Checkmate” series coming in April. Will Bendis and Maleev be able to give readers enough information about what is coming next or will this one-shot continue the vague nature of the Leviathan saga?
Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Illustrated by Alex Maleev
Lettered by Joshua ReedExploding out of the pages of the Event Leviathan miniseries, this all-new special blasts the DC Universe into a dangerous and brave new future! With Leviathan arrived, its leader’s identity revealed, and its plans known, what happens next? Now the heroes fight back! Leviathan changed the rules of the game, so now’s the time for the biggest players to get together and figure out a new strategy in this brave new world. It’s an extra-sized super-spy yarn from the Eisner Award-winning team of writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Alex Maleev!
In “Leviathan Dawn” #1 author Brian Michael Bendis gives the rebooted spy organization slightly more context. Bendis peels back the curtain and shows the inner workings of Leviathan without giving out too much information. The two best scenes of the issue happen to be the ones giving more context to the mysterious organization. Mark Shaw and his company refer to the upcoming mini-series as ‘Events’ which joyfully break the fourth wall of comics. It is frustrating to have spent at least seven issues with this organization and still know so little about their plans. Leviathan acknowledges that they are looking to tear down the status quo of the DC Universe but Bendis only gives teases at what that could potentially look like. After spending so much time with these villains I would have expected to get more context from the work.
The biggest problem with the “Leviathan Dawn” #1 one-shot is still here from the initial “Event Leviathan” mini-series. Lots of the heroes are speaking in a similar voice. There are also several scenes with secondary characters that show how big Leviathan’s world is but don’t necessarily advance the story. There is a moment with Oliver Queen and Steve Trevor where both characters look the same and have a very similar snarky tone. Each character is spouting forgetful jokes that particularly don’t suit Trevor’s character in some instances. Trevor refers to villain Mr. Bones by saying “How long has Mr. Bones been like that?” and Queen responds with “Like that Colonel? That is not what he has been like.” The snarky jokes that this issue is full of can barely be considered funny. Shortly after, Bones wakes up and shoots back with another retort; “I could use a burger.” Every character in the issue is spouting off random lines with a similarly thin personality that does not give this large cast of characters the kind of characterization they need.
Alex Maleev’s art is mostly solid in the issue. It can be difficult to tell his figures apart if two characters look similar. There are also several pages with characters talking that have derivative body language. Pages that have big setpieces or characters like Mr. Bones can be much more expressive. Maleev is also really good at depicting motion. Maleev’s scene with The Question may be the best in the entire issue as readers are able to follow each of his movements in a beautifully linear fashion. Maleev is also a perfect match for the dark but occasionally silly tone of the issue. Facial expressions from some of the characters in the issue can look really ominous. Also when characters are lumped together in a group setting Maleev always poses them incredibly well.
Continued below“Leviathan Dawn” #1 is far from perfect but the issue seems to communicate that Bendis hasn’t learned from the last mini-series. This script is still incredibly decompressed following the initial Leviathan mini. Bendis only offers the slightest teases at what we can expect to see in the upcoming mini-series. Also, it is disappointing that we spend so little time with Leviathan here. The most interesting part of the story by far is seeing how Mark Shaw and the rest of the organization is picking up the pieces after going public in such a visible manner. So many of the individual pieces with the heroes feel like they are wasting time and advancing the plot of the series really slowly.
One aspect that Bendis should really try and hone in on for future issues is sticking with one group of characters at a time to advance the plot. Previous comics written by Bendis that feature characters in a group setting pick up on character moments that advance the plot really slowly. “Secret Invasion” in particular featured a large group of characters. Bendis would check in on a lot of plot threads per issue and advance the storylines very slowly in an incremental fashion. Overall, “Leviathan Dawn” #1 is an okay issue that features a couple of great scenes. Bendis is in danger of alienating his audience with the incredibly slow pace of the issue that needs to be addressed immediately in the next few chapters. “Event Leviathan: Checkmate” has an incredible amount of potential but I can already tell the series is going to need an extreme level of focus from Bendis and Maleev to achieve a high level of quality.
Final Verdict: 6.0 – “Leviathan Dawn” #1 teases the next steps of Leviathan’s mission with an emotionally cold script.
