Metal Men #4: Ghost in the Machine

This issue swings the balance back to a more classic vibe as Tin and Lead’s convention appearance is equal parts quirky humor and absolutely bizarre action. Bringing in Omac whom we haven’t seen around much since his solo series was cut short was a perfect match for this issue as well. If there were any naysayers who thought maybe these guys don’t “get” Metal Men and that’s why they’ve swung so serious with it so far well, go on ahead on stick that foot directly into your mouth now.

The ability to perfect handle the devious yet persuasive nature of Nth Metal Man and his ambiguous ambitions, his rebellion against Magnus and the hilarity of Tin and Lead off without “adult supervision” shows just how solid Shane Davis is at writing Metal Men. It’s a risky approach that has worked out swimmingly and gets the reader wondering what on Earth is coming next. It also makes you remember the good ole days when a story could reference past events and build on them without just being some drudgery to set up the next event. In an age where standalone books from the Big 2 are increasingly rare seeing one this strong with a fan favorite title like Metal Men makes one hopeful for the underdogs again. I mean think about it, when’s the last time you read such an organically grown guest appearance that wasn’t just a setup for another book coming down the pipeline? Omac is literally the perfect guest star in terms of fitting the serious edge and quirky charm of Metal Men without having to be written out of character or otherwise tweaked hoping you won’t notice.

All in all Metal Men is just a great comic, one that reads well in single issues in a way that’s not as common as it once was, yet still makes ya think “yup definitely gonna need to get this heat in trade”.