Greatest Hits #6

Written by David Tischman
Art by Glenn Fabry and Gary Erskine

For the most part, I have enjoyed this series about a documentary film-maker who is manipulated into making a film about Britain (and America's) greatest super-hero team, The Mates, who were filmed and accompanied by his estranged father. The book's constant flipping back and forth between the present, interviews from the documentary, and flashbacks to the past gave it a documentary feel, and I enjoyed the realistic portrayal of a group of heroes who both changed with, and were a product of, their times.

I felt that this last issue was a little flat and anti-climactic though. Much was made over the last two issues of the secret that was discovered about Archie Suggs, the newsman who is Nick's father, but it is not mentioned in this issue at all. The resolution to Nick's story and issues makes sense, but is lacking in dramatic force.

The art on this title has been surprisingly good. I've never been a fan of Fabry's covers, where many of his characters, to me, don't look like the people inside the book (Hellblazer!), but his interiors work well in a Steve Dillon sort of way. I do have to question why, over a couple of pages where Nick is talking to his ex-girlfriend, so much panel space is given over to a fat guy who's dog takes a dump on the sidewalk. It made me feel like I was reading Mad Magazine.

Overall, this is a good title, which would read well in trade format.