Domino #7
Ross Hutchinson
Recap
The new arc opens with Spanish authorities investigating a grisly robbery in Barcelona where a witness recounts seeing "Pale angels" steal some sort of box from the scene leaving bloody naked footprints behind...
Back on the Painted lady riverboat, Domino is confronted with herself in a dress or rather a large picture of her in one as Diamondback and Outlaw make the argument that she is the perfect marketing tool (a mutant with luck powers) for attracting patrons to the gambling establishment they have inherited. Neena isn't completely sold (and clearly not a morning person) as Henri the butler announces an unexpected new client.
The client turns out to be 16-year old Wakandan Shoon'kwa who wants to engage Domino and her merry band of mercenaries to retrieve a box and return it to the client unopened for a large payout which Domino accepts despite smelling trouble cause well do you know what it costs to maintain a riverboat casino?
Dashing through the snow ok not dashing but rather zooming through the snow on snow bikes in Eastern Norway near the Swedish border, the posse is on their next mission and having fun while they doing it! Although Inez really shouldn't be allowed to drive stuff lets be honest (see crashing a Quinjort last issue) and this ends only slightly better with Outlaw headfirst in the snow. Domino asks if Inez is still tracking their quarry and Inez answers in the affirmative pointing to a line of trees. Domino and Diamondback help Inez out the snow in time to be unexpectedly confronted by ragged and feral looking girl child who starts growling things at the posse in Swedish before running back into the nearby treeline. The posse cautiously approaches the trees as we learn from Diamondback that she grew up hearing dark tales of the dark creatures such as werewolves and vampires of the forests from her grandmother who was from the area. They enter the dark forest and are confronted by a bridal party (literally) of vampires that descends on them from the trees!
A fight ensues with bullets, punching and a Domino fastball special which is nearly not enough until some clever thinking, a bit of luck Luck of course and a lot of explosives see the posse win out against their undead adversaries. We also learn from a dying monologue of the bride vampire a bit of her sad past but more importantly and chillingly that the vampires of the world are organizing, coming together, rallying behind someone for the first time in their history in order to finally take over the world and with that the fallen vampire woman is gone leaving our group of outlaws with a nothing but a large chained up chest. Outlaw refuses to take the box back without checking its contents despite as Diamondback reminds her of their employer's instructions, Domino agrees with Outlaw and with a snap of some chains the box is opened and low and behold its not an it in the box its a who... Morbius the living vampire that's who!!
Upon a hill on higher ground watching the posse try put Morbius's unconscious form back in the box a man named Tighe makes contact with someone. Seeing Domino's pale skin he believes her to be a vampire and his lasts words to the unseen person on the phone mean big trouble is headed Domino and the rest of the Posse's way!
Review
It’s a fun start to the next adventure of Domino and her fellow mercs. Gail Simone writes an engaging, action-packed and often hilarious Domino and crew with snappy banter between characters that kept me smiling the whole way through the book. Her characterizations of each of the main players are clean and clearly defined and what the characters say to each other never feels out of place with the witty banter between Neena, Inez and Rachel feeling organic and natural. Balanced against the humour both verbal and visual ( David Baldeon gets a gold star for that shirt Neena’s wearing at the beginning of the issue and I am sure people have started making those for themselves already) Simone still threads that very human element into Domino’s story and in this issue it was great to see that self-doubt and social awkward element that Domino hides so well written into the piece. Neena’s internal monologue is a device Gail uses as a window into Neena’s very flawed and very real personality.
David Baldeon’s art is clean and just when I think he can’t come up with a better splash page he does and again combined with Aburtov’s colors make for a really great visual display from the blue skies out on the snow to the darker menace in the trees with the vampires. I also really enjoyed the little details like Pip the dog cozying up to Shoon’kwa as well. Shout out to Clayton Cowles for that awesome Yeeeeee Haaaaw and other awesome sound effects in this issue.
I have mentioned it before but I will say it again…there is a true sense of togetherness about the creative team that really comes across each page and it’s infectious. While the way in which the current series is written may not appeal to everyone especially if you want your X related books deadly serious, for me they are a great fun read every month and issue #7 is no exception.
Final Thoughts
Overall a solid action and humor-filled romp from team Domino who deliver quality comic entertainment month after month. This title continues to be one of my favorite from the X character stable and I really think it is the best Domino has ever been written.
Domino #7 Don’t Ever Open the Box…
- Writing - 9/109/10
- Storyline - 9/109/10
- Art - 9/109/10
- Color - 9/109/10
- Cover Art - 9/109/10
