The Movement #1

This book is kind of a mess. The biggest concern is that it should have come out ages ago, when Occupy Wall Street was still a force to be reckoned with. When that movement lost steam, this book lost so much potential power.

This book should also not be a regular DC title. I don't believe DC is going to let Gail Simone get dark enough for this book to actually work. Simone's corrupt police department really only comes off as a cartoonish parody of corruption. It's silly.

This issue is an absolute whirlwind of characters. It felt like a new character was introduced every page turn and because of that, all the characters were shallow. So far, these characters mean nothing to me and I didn't even get a chance to get to know them.

I'm not sure if Simone even knows these characters. They look like heroes, act sort of like heroes, but come across as villainous. Now that's probably a statement being made about groups like OWS and Anonymous, but it seems like sloppy writing to me.

Simone can't seem to decide if she wants to write a superhero book, a crime book or a political statement. She needs to hurry up and figure it out though.

I don't like the art in this book either. Freddie Williams II has done better, and can do better. It looks like he's trying to make this book seem grittier and it isn't his strength. It's easy to tell because in this book photographs and stills on television look remarkably better than what's happening.

When a character is shown in two panels right next to each other and they look radically different, something is wrong. Especially when the only difference is one is a photo of that character.

Williams has some really interesting design work in this this book, but the execution could be better. Tremor is a character with a really excellent costume, but on the same page her cloak is drawn radically different.

The whole book feels sloppy to me. Like it was rushed and DC wanted a more political Teen Titans out on the field. There isn't any heart to this book at all. It's just a hodgepodge of new characters and misguided politics. I don't know who DC wants to sway with this, but it certainly isn't me.

This book seems like it should have been left in the hands of people who do this thing more often. I could be wrong, but dark and gritty doesn't seem like the world for Gail Simone and Freddie Williams II.

Now, I haven't read any Gail Simone except this and new 52 Batgirl. Neither of them have kept my interest and I certainly can't say if she's up to the task of making this book good or not. She certainly isn't proving it with the first issue though.

I never thought I would be rooting for the rich kids, but I was more excited about The Movement's sister book, The Green Team, when this was announced. Now I don't see how Green Team can't be better.