"Who's Your Daddy?": Part 5--Deaths in the Family
Writer: Marc Andreyko
Artists: Javier Pina(p), Fernando Blanco(i), Steve Buccellato(c)
Publisher: DC
"Oooo, Oooo, Oooo."
"Another one bites the dust"
"And another one down, and another one down, and another one bites the dust..."
"Ooo, she's gonna get you too. Another one bites the dust."--Queen
Marc Andreyko by doing the exact opposite in Manhunter sums up a lot of what I find wrong with comic books today. The heroes are impotent. Decompression reigns supreme, and there's blessed little excitement to be had or complexity to be found.
This state of decay paradigm is in part due to an unbalanced schism between reality and fantasy and an authorial lack of comprehension about the super-hero's place in literature. Superman does not exist to weep at a horrible event. He exists to prevent the horrible event, and this prevention shouldn't take up ten issues of the title. Likewise, Batman does not exist to regret a tragedy. Born out of tragedy, he exists to prevent more tragedy.
In Manhunter Andreyko eschews postmodern tropes and elicits pure energy. He furthermore reinforces the super-hero ideal. Manhunter does not exist to let people die. She exists to prevent death. She does not exist in the story to be beaten. She exists to win.
Andreyko begins the book by resolving the cliffhanger from last issue. Phobia appeared to shove Kate's staff through her body--a definite killing blow, but if you had been paying attention, you would know that the cliffhanger was a big fat lie. Kate's flunky Dylan--who generates a memorable comedy moment this issue--reconfigured Kate's staff so it would only work for her. Andreyko reveals what really happened and next shows that Kate does have a code to which she abides. She is not a wanton killer. She is an executioner. While it is she who sanctions who will live and who will die, she does not ambivalently choose.
Andreyko proceeds for the meat of the book to cleverly reverse gender roles and evolve the story to its impressive climax. Kate, the hero, saves the victim, her ex-husband from a torture nuanced with sexualized bondage imagery. She then faces the mastermind of the piece. Since he has the experience of a hardened criminal as well as a super-power, the villain she faces is no lightweight. Kate does not falter for a second and as a consequence does not succumb to cliché behavior. She confronts the villain and through her nimble adaptive mind defeats him.
Andreyko switches the roles of the supporting cast. Cameron Chase acts as the cavalry. Dylan takes a "bubble bath." The gay men, usually seen--if at all--off panel, provide the tastefully rendered post-coital scenes. They exhale a breath of intimacy that contrasts the family relationships being shattered and fought for in the main story.
In Manhunter Andreyko formulates antithesis, but he still does not make everything quite so cut and dry. One of the gay men possesses a secret. This secret isn't however an awful secret threatening to turn Manhunter into an Afterschool Special. The women provide the muscle and heroism, but neither lacks brains or emotions. Chase exhibits concern for her friend, and Kate displays the maternal facet of her personality. Phobia implies that she's bisexual. This isn't a groundbreaking personality trait among female villains. Andreyko though transforms what was formerly an insulting sign of depravity into another splinter that makes Phobia a complete agent of chaos. For example, Poison Ivy of Batman: The Animated Series genuinely has feelings for Harley Quinn and a misplaced ecological rationale for committing crime. Phobia feeds on chaos and emotions produced by chaos. Sexuality for Phobia is a means to an end. The very idea that she would order out a preference is absurd. She feeds on the chaos of passion and pain. Love would probably kill her.
Near the end of the book, Andreyko defies conventions in other ways. Kate treats a situation that's always handled as a life consuming tragedy in a neutral, almost casual fashion. Kate's surprise makes sense. Her reaction to the news is perfectly in character. If a woman publicly reacted in real life to such a scenario, she would be stoned. If you don't protect your rights, ladies, the bad men and their female dupes will take them away to turn you into cattle. Bonus points for proper medical terminology.
The art team of Pina, Blanco and Buccellato further separates Manhunter from the chaff. Though this is a book that stars a female super-hero, Pina, Blanco and Buccellato do not focus on butts and boobs. They instead emphasize fight choreography and Kate's violent grace. They make Kate's expression more important than her cup size, and they make each panel a beat in an exciting score. I very much doubt that Andreyko is ever disappointed by the art team's visualization of his imagination.
Kate Spencer a.k.a. Manhunter kills another villain. She kills decisively. She kills efficiently. She kills remorselessly. Kate, I love you. I mean that. Huntress used to have my love, but DC went and killed her. I love you, Kate. Stay healthy.
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