Manhunter #31

It's back! It is as though it never left! Oh Manhunter, I've missed you. Just like the All-New Atom and Blue Beetle, I was a little bit late in jumping onto the Manhunter bandwagon, but through diligent search of the back issue boxes and trades, I've been able to get all the stories. And unlike poor Atom, which went to pot the minute that Gail Simone left, we still have Marc Andreyko, working his wordly magic. Michael Gaydos is on as the artist now, and he does an excellent job as well.

There is a nice opening sequence that brings everybody up to speed, and also makes this a nice jumping-on point for new readers. Then...boom, we are right into the action, with Kate taking out a rather formidable opponent in the form of the Atomic Skull. This however, is really just the warm-up to the main story. It seems as though there has been a long and systematic reign of terror going on in the El Paso/Ciudad Juarez area, with women turning up dead and missing. Nobody has ever really done much about it, since the victims were all poor and Hispanic. Kate feels badly about this and decides to investigate.

Oh, and some other good stuff happens too,with her real Grandfather, Iron Munroe showing up, and some angst over that, not to mention that Dylan receives a rather grisly present. And Todd shows up! He's got this cool helicopter, and he and Kate go searching in it, over the area where all the murders have taken place. The Mexican authorities show up and Todd has to beat feet, so that the Justice Society doesn't get involved in an international incident, so Kate just jumps out and continues to search on her own. And just as she uncovers a buried hand, who should show up, but...!

Oh come now. El Paso, and who do you think should show up? Frankly the thought of Kate Spencer and Jaime Reyes working together just makes me giggle with delight. I can hardly wait until next month!

I would like to say something about the artwork. Mr. Gaydos does a lovely job of portraying Manhunter as a super hero. Her costume may be tight red leather, but it doesn't look like she's wearing it as a second skin. She actually has hips. She is not wasp-waisted. She looks like a real woman. When she is portrayed wearing her regular clothes, they actually look like clothes that a normal woman would wear. It's wonderful.