Crime Syndicate #6: Sometimes Bad is Bad

Wow!! Talk about going out with a bang! Writer Andy Schmidt takes this series to some places I seriously thought he wouldn’t for this final issue of the series. One of the things I’ve loved about this title is its unpredictability, and this issue is no exception. If you thought you had an idea of how this was going to end, you were wrong. You were really wrong. As fun as the surprises are, the main part of the story is the real focus here. Schmidt really knows these characters and knows how to make you hate them on one page, and have you feeling genuinely bad for them on the next. He neatly ties up all the major plotlines, but leaves just enough hanging for your imagination to go into overdrive thinking about what might happen next, and looking forward to (God willing) the next series by this creative team. Schmidt has done a fantastic job getting this new universe in front of our eyeballs and teaching us what its laws are, hopefully, he’ll get to return to it and tell more stories. I know I’m ready for more.  

The team of artists Kieran McKeown and Dexter Vines is outstanding. They give Earth-3 its very distinctive own look, but they don’t stray too far from good, solid, superhero art. When you look at this book, there’s no mistaking that you’re reading a DC superhero comic, which is how it should be. Their method of storytelling is a little outside the box, with unique page layouts and panel placements, it’s just really enjoyable to look at this comic. Very well done on this issue – AND the series!!