I'm starting to see the pattern here with these Face of Evil books. It seems that the basic idea is to show that a lot of these foes aren't the laughing-stocks and b-listers that we've come to think of them as. For some reason, over the years, DC has developed some villains with incredible power, but . . then they don't have the intelligence or imagination to use that power to their advantage. They just can't seem to overcome thier ideosyncracies that cause them to give away their plans, their motives, heck sometimes even their means of defeat. However, these Face of Evil books seem to be a way for them to redefine themselves . . or maybe just to reassert themselves. By the end of each issue, they all seem to be more focused and confident. That's not necessarily going to make them a better villain, but it will make them harder to stop . . or to anticipate their moves. Basically everything we know, or think we know, about these villains can be thrown out the window. It's going to be a whole new ball-game after this. This issue in particular is about Starbreaker. Easily one of the most powerful, and heinous villains ever, but . . we've come to think of him as a joke because of his various encounters with the Justice League. This story is told by Len Wein, who probably wrote most of those original stories. But this time, it's told from Starbreakers perspective. He's thinking about their previous encounters and his ultimate incarceration by the Guardians of OA into the Shadow dimension. And through that experience we're reintroduced to his good and faithful servant whom we haven't seen in quite a while . . Carl Sands, the Shadow Thief. I think things are about to get very interesting. Chris Cross illustrates this book. I haven't seen his work in quite a while, actually. I thought this was an interesting book. It provided a lot of information and it put Starbreaker back onto the top of the Justice League's list. They just don't know it yet. Also, that's a great cover by Ed Benes.
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