DV8 Neighborhood Threat Author:Warren Ellis, Humberto Ramos (Illustrator) What would a group of super-powered teen-agers REALLY be like? Certainly not fresh-faced do-gooders, as Gen13 or Generation X would have us believe. But I'd hope they wouldn't be QUITE as bad as The Deviants, the protagonists of DV8: Neighborhood Threat. — As portrayed by Writer Warren Ellis, The Deviants are foul-mouthed, immoral, murder... more »ous, horny, incestuous, lazy, greedy punks, at the mercy of their handler, Ivana Baiul, and her crony, the crazed Sideways Bob. Ivana has her own mysterious agenda, often sending the kids on suicide missions just because she can. As bad as The Deviants are, though, the people they come up against are even worse, and it does provide a vicarious thrill to see The Deviants dish out a well deserved serving of comeuppance to these baddies.
Ellis' stories are compelling, and the characters are all nicely developed by the end of the collection. The art (By Humberto Ramos) is nice, but at times it's hard to make out what's going on in a panel. (This is some of his earlier work.) The book also includes a new introduction by Ellis, and a cover gallery of the reprinted issues (#'s 1-6, and the special Wizard #1/2 issue), including the "Seven Deadly Sins" variant covers for issue #1.
Overall, it's a fun read for people with strong stomachs. Here's hoping DC collects the rest of Ellis' DV8 run.« less