Zeb Larson reviews C.O.W.L. #5…
The end of the first arc and a huge turning point for the series! John Pierce and Geoffrey Warner square off over C.O.W.L.’s big secret, Radia faces public outcry, and Arclight resorts to lethal force…against one of his own.
C.O.W.L. has effectively finished its first major story arc with this issue, and it’s an ending that taints just everybody every character. I feel that it’s meaningless to write a review of something if you can’t actually discuss the plot points, so there will be spoilers ahead. I will switch back, however, to have some discussion of the first arc that is spoiler free.
Spoilers
John Pierce and Arclight survey the aftermath of last issue’s riot. Warner is told by the other major unions that they will no longer support sympathy strike, and his journalist contact proves no more useful, saying that a fluff piece will do little to change public opinion. Elsewhere, John and Arclight are getting ready to approach the Chicago Police Department with the evidence they have on Warner. Before they can head out however, Warner speaks with Arclight and talks about their shared desire to save Chicago. On the verge of telling the story, John gets distracted by a robbery and led down an alley. Arclight arrives and tells John that the robbery was meant to distract him and asks him if he can be talked out of his plan, which John angrily denies. Apologizing, Arclight kills him. In the epilogue, Warner speaks with Camden Stone and asks him to bring out his superpowered muscle so that C.O.W.L. will have a purpose again.
In his notes for the issue, Kyle Higgins notes that this was supposed to be the opening issue for the series. I’m glad it wasn’t, in part because making it into the first arc gave us a chance to get to know some of the important people in C.O.W.L. rather than being thrown into their midst. This especially applies to Geoffrey, who I feel despite his numerous flaws and sins in this issue is still not your straightforward villain. Perhaps everything that he did with Arclight was pure theatrics and manipulation, but he’s seemed consistently motivated by this do-good impulse. Had this been the opener, he would have come off as a devious bureaucrat rather than a desperate man, and desperate characters are always interesting ones.
End Spoilers
There’s a lot of institutional cynicism at work here, which might come across to some as a blanket judgment on unions. I don’t see any political motivation at work in this comic, at least not in a standard liberal-conservative sense. Higgins and Siegel are trying to show how an institution can become an ugly, self-perpetuating monster with a life force of its own, especially when it’s tied to a powerful man like Warner. After all, in these five issues, has there been any compelling evidence why C.O.W.L. needs to continue? Why shouldn’t Daley be able to hire freelance heroes or affiliate them with the CPD? Sure, Camden Stone has his superpowered enforcers, but they don’t seem to pose the kind of public safety risk that justifies a superhero union. An organization like C.O.W.L. needs threats for people to face, which make it very dangerous.
This was a strong capstone to the first story arc, a story arc which converted me to an out-and-out fan of the series. I wish we had more time in this issue to spend with the other members of C.O.W.L., but what happens is significant enough that it’s probably for the best that we didn’t see Radia or anybody else. A number of disparate plot threads came together in this issue:
Camden Stone, Warner’s negotiations with the city, and the missing C.O.W.L. blueprints. This will give the next story arc a great deal of power.
The only thing that I’m still not completely sold on is the artwork. I am enjoying the varied art style within the issue, as it switches between more realistic depictions and more stylized depictions from page to page. Still, the more stylized depictions almost feel abstract, especially in the issue’s final pages. It’s never going to stop me from reading this series, but I admit I have a strong preference for the more realistic style.
Zeb Larson
Originally published September 25, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
