Livewire #12: McKee’s Curtain Call

So overall this final arc was enjoyable, however as far as finales go…I’d be lying to say this one wasn’t a tad lackluster. After all the build-up and even turning a “girl Friday” type into a potential threat, for the arc to end with just some disgruntled banter and some hugs is….bizarrely after-school special. There’s nothing wrong with the story and once collected in trade it will be a solid read but the pacing with the rest of the series is just off.

The Jason Bourne-ish vibe this arc carried with it each issue almost evaporates page by page. There’s just a lack of weight to it that one would expect when the world’s most dangerous woman is violated by a bunch of white collar crooks in a final confrontation. The last page reunion of Livewire and her misfit Secret Weapons team is heartwarming and all but then it’s just over. If this wasn’t the end of the series it would be fine or at the least the end of one series and the start of another volume of Secret Weapons it woulda been raw hype but it’s a bittersweet goodbye and not for all the right reasons.

Still bemoaning of one issue aside 11 killer issues in a row demolishes the great to meh issue ratio in favor of greatness. So overall this has been a fun ride and Valiant is all the better for what Vita Ayala has done here. More importantly, Livewire has shown she can carry a solo title and isn’t just the brainy chick on the Unity team or Ninjak’s #1 boo-thang. Granted all of those things are dope it’s equally awesome to see a strong woman stand on her own two feet and be thrown through a gamut of insane challenges and threats of all varieties. Livewire vs PSEP alone was worth reading this book and the rest was a fun ride to add along with the high points.

Truth is, I’m gonna miss this series and that means a ton in and of itself, in an age where comics are constantly getting rebooted, retconned, and all around more brief in their existences than just about any other period in comics (that’s a mouthful) when’s the last time you really got attached to a new book? Let that really sink for a sec because odds are you haven’t given it any thought in some time.