Faerber last left our heroes in a state of desperation as he managed to separate them over their ailing, comatose leader, Maddie. The Dynamo 5 remains broken up in #14, but we get a chance to, once again, see them interact with members of their own, non-team personal lives. Visionary deals with his overprotective mother, Scatterbrain deals with the football team and his school life, Slingshot spends time with her father and Myriad continues the playboy lifestyle.

That leaves me with a few pivotal points of the issue that take it outside of the realm of “standard fare”. The absence of the Dynamo 5 in Tower City has left a, as someone puts it, “power vacuum” and thus the city has been overrun with villainy and despair. Faerber takes this opportunity to introduce a new hero to the mix with Vigil. We won’t get a glimpse of her alter-ego in this issue, but we do see her in action as she beats back the wave of crime in Tower City.

This new display of villainy with not much standing in the way is a defining moment for Scrap. She, to me, has always come off as a potential team leader and demonstrates more of that charisma here. Faerber has built, within 14 issues mind you, such a well developed fabric of personalities and relationships that the moral obligation Scrap has to her city and the team’s cause will not go unnoticed by any reader. If you didn’t know what to think about Scrap, and her infinitely provocative poses, you will after this installment. She has become my favorite of the Fab-5 and will certainly stay that way until someone else in the team steps up in a huge way.

The interactions that Faerber has written between characters on panel here in #14 are solid as per usual. Nothing feels forced, and the moments of in-battle monologuing won’t even bother those that hate the method most. There is some more of the soap-opera feel that Faerber brings with both of his family focused books (Noble Causes being the other), so if you aren’t a fan of that you probably will be bothered by it once more. I, personally, am a sucker for all of the drama and think it adds to the experience.

In terms of plot, not a whole lot in the way of epic happens in this month’s issue. We do, as I mentioned, get a fair bit of action and drama to hold us over, but there isn’t a lot of progression. The characters have been split up, so we have to deal with five people getting five separate instances of story. Add Vigil to that, and now we have six separate people earning significant comic time. It will make this book fly, but not in an entirely bad way.

The art, and you’ll understand why I was pleasantly surprised in a moment, is consistent with the rest of the series. Those that have come to love the bright and varied approach Asrar has taken with this series won’t be disappointed. This is huge because a new artist has been added to the team. One Yildiray Cinar is responsible for half of this issue, and the tone never feels any different than when Asrar is at the helm. Huge bonus points for successfully achieving the same visual feel and theme as an entirely separate artist. I am curious about the artists’ relationship throughout the creation of this book. How close were they?

This is another great book in the Dynamo 5 line. If you’re a fan, you won’t be disappointed. I don’t recommend it as a jumping-on point for newbies, as the world of the team is in complete disrepair. Instead, pick up the first trade. It’s what, 10 bucks!? Why not get it? Dynamo 5 is a great read, and for anyone that wants to take in a new team experience, I recommend this book highly.

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