The Crisis Command interrogates a ticking clock corpse! But how can heroes save a world without empathy? First, they have to figure out how to save it within themselves, as Nina Next, the science hero Frontier, takes John Doe Empathy out on the town … to discuss their seeeeeeecrets. Let’s rejoin our heroes in Image’s Commanders in Crisis #3 by Steve Orlando, Davide Tinto, Francesco Carotenuto and Fabio Amelia.
Ari Bard: Hey, Cori! ’Tis the season for giving or for solving an international plot to kill the very idea of empathy that underpins the fabric of humanity and our connection to each other, am I right? [Grote’s note: And that’s a wrap on “‘Tis the season” jokes in content I edit for the rest of December, folks!]
Cori McCreery: Truly there should be no time like now for caring about your fellow man, but we all know that goes out the window when paired with capitalism. Anyway, where were we?
Twisted Values
AB: So we open by learning a little more about our big bad, or at the very least, a strong agent for rugged individualism who happens to drink blood mixed with soda, and I found it to be … a little confusing? I will say I’ve never seen any sort of vampiric entity mix cola (aptly named “Fuck You Cola”) into their blood before, so there’s some ingenuity there, but what did you make of this, Cori?
CM: My first thought? Is this one of our friends who is notorious for doing food crimes? Rob, if you’re reading this, please don’t mix cola and blood. But I did appreciate that apparently our vampire is lacking fangs of his own and has to use a meat fork to do the dirty work. And as I try to pick apart the mess that is his apartment, I’m stumped as to what the “SS” bottle is. Though those letters together don’t usually mean anything good. [Grote’s note: Hmm … Social Security. Scott Stapp. Super Sons. Yeah, jury’s out.]
AB: I’m sorry, Cori, but I’m going to be the bearer of bad news here. That bottle says “Passion Lube” on it, and I think Orlando really went the extra mile to make this guy as disgusting as possible, as people with no regard for empathy should be portrayed. To recap beyond the messy apartment, the drinking blood even though he might not be a vampire (he could just be a sick individual), and a poster of New Jersey, it is also implied that he may be jerking off to a political speech on individuality so … mission accomplished, I guess.
CM: The thing that really sends me over the line there isn’t the lube. NEW JERSEY?! WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MINDS LIKES NEW JERSEY?
[Grote’s note: HEY! Don’t make me pork roll your Bruce Springsteen right in the turnpike!]
AB: Beats me. The entire scene breaks some of your faith in humanity, but it’s soon restored by a recently received stranger, who may not be a stranger after all.
John Doe Ain’t No Stranger
AB: The bulk of this issue is spent dealing with the stranger who might also be Empathy that they just brought back to life and, oh yeah, he’s a person! Who would’ve thought that when given another 24 hours to live, they might not want to selflessly use it to solve a problem for a world they don’t belong in anymore. That always makes things a little more complicated. Our John Doe’s name is Simon Wheelwright, and while he may be a stranger to most of our heroes, he and Nina seem to have a history. What’d you make of that, Cori?
CM: It really makes me think, actually. What would I do in the same situation as Simon? I’d like to think that I’d be selfless and heroic, that I wouldn’t care that I only have a day left as long as it was spent helping people, but would I? I honestly don’t know and don’t really care to ever find out. And yeah, I still don’t know what to make of the hinted-at history between Nina and Simon, because it feels like Nina probably should have recognized him right away?
AB: Yea that was really weird, and the moments between Nina and Simon for me was where a lot of pacing issues started to develop. I really appreciate the effort that’s going into making Simon into more than just a tool for our heroes to use, but establishing a history here with Nina just doesn’t make sense. It seems contrived in order for the team to split up, so that Prizefighter and Seer can search the apartment, which ends up factoring into the conflict later in the issue, but Nina and Simon’s entire day together was a lot of talking and processing that addressed an interesting moral dilemma, but still took me out of the story.
CM: For sure, while I am still loving the series as a whole, this issue just lacked the oomph of the first two. One thing, though, and it’s something that makes you go back and look harder at details: Simon also has a Jersey poster. The same one in fact, which is what the killer referenced. So while this issue didn’t hit as hard, it is still building up that mystery and actively giving us clues to find and peruse. Tom King likes to try to tell mysteries, but he makes it confusing to keep the reader from solving the plot, whereas Orlando is actively laying clues for us, but still telling a hell of a mystery.
AB: Wow, good catch! Simon’s room was also … quite the locale. Orlando did a great job this issue of keeping me disgusted yet still utterly fascinated. The sentiment was very well-captured with the “Here there be straight men” line. The mystery is afoot, and each issue brings a small new reveal and a few more clues toward the overall puzzle. There’s some great and intricate plotting at play here.
CM: I do like that Scarlet immediately called him on his own shit, though. Like nah, you get off your high horse, Prizefighter.
Commanders in Crisis … and Conflict
AB: Unfortunately, crises don’t take their turn, and after arriving too late to stop an attack in Dallas, these heroes find themselves in an argument that seems to arise out of nowhere. What’d you think about this trouble brewing within the team, and the Originator’s temporary solution?
CM: Out of all the characters, I think Originator might actually be my favorite, if only because her power is so unique. And the ramifications of this usage of her power should spread wider than just letting the heroes get along again, but I think this is hinting at something deeper about the death of empathy and what we can expect to see as those effects ripple through the world. It seems a bit odd that right after Originator restored empathy briefly, we stop in on one of the villains of the story, yet another appearance of that weird ass bird (Literally — this time it’s tattooed on an ass).
AB: I definitely agree with you here. Originator’s word-based powers are one of the coolest superhero concepts I’ve ever seen. I think it’s possible that Originator’s powers did have some additional ramifications. Maybe her restoration was part of the reason Simon did try to help. You’re right though that it was weirdly juxtaposed with our politician villain yelling to push the bill through, catch the “mind-muggers” and then skinny dip in his pool. Judging from the tease for the next issue, it’s possible the scene was only included as yet another tease for this evil illuminati and for the mind-muggers our heroes will soon have to deal with. The most memorable part of that page, however, is the phrase “fuckity-shit,” which, for a book with the high-brow vocabulary of the Originator, it’s nice to see some innovative vocab for us common folk as well.
CM: OK, but there is something to be said for stringing good swears together. I remember back in the day, before he was the Doctor, my first introduction to Peter Capaldi was this YouTube clip (Warning: very NSFW language) in which he strings together some of the most brilliant cussing I’ve ever heard in my life, including the phrase “fuckity-bye,” which is what this reminded me of. That said, what do you make of the lady at the end? Who do you think her son is?
AB: Oh I think her son is definitely our blood drinker from the beginning, but I don’t really have any evidence beyond the New Jersey connection. I hope the mom has a trick up her sleeve (or in her purse), because otherwise she may be a little out of her element.
Originator’s vocab list
- Chronodilativepsychodeevolution
- Feminoveloinspirationism
- Ideacorporevivexposition
- Empathorecidivism
Ari Bard is a huge comic fan studying Mechanical Engineering so he can finally figure out how the Batmobile works.
Yes, it's Cori McCreery—strange visitor from DC fandom who came to Xavier Files with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal critics. Cori, who can leap tall buildings in a single bound, race a speeding bullet to its target, bend steel in her bare hands, and who, also works as an editor for a great Eisner winning website, Women Write About Comics, fights a never-ending battle for truth and justice.
