Peacemaker is one of those series that shouldn’t have worked, yet absolutely does. Chalk it up to James Gunn, whose work on The Suicide Squad established the groundwork to explore Christopher Smith, and John Cena, who brought some surprising depth and a ton of humor to the role. Now, as Peacemaker gears up for its second season, DC decided to remind folks what they were potentially missing out on with Peacemaker Presents: The Vigilante/Eagly Double Feature #1.
True to its title, this comic features two separate stories. The first, “A Time For Fables”, features Peacemaker’s fellow homicidal hero and self-proclaimed BFF Vigilante mistakenly assuming that Peacemaker has been kidnapped…and going on a killing spree to find them. Then, “Peaceful Vacation” has Peacemaker and Eagly attempt to go on vacation. Naturally, things go wrong.
Of the two stories, I’d argue that “A Time For Fables” is the stronger entry due to the unlikely but incredible pairing of Tim Seeley and Mitch Gerads. Seeley’s script is full of the off-color, random humor that made Vigilante such a standout in Peacemaker (the fact that Gunn served as a story consultant also helped), while Gerads’ photorealistic style makes it feel like you’re watching (or rather, reading) a lost episode of Peacemaker. The best part comes when Vigilante faces off against two enforcers, Cannon and Saber; in six panels, Gerards draws them coming into contact with Vigilante, and ending up the worse for wear, complete with shifting red, blue and white backgrounds.
DC
In contrast, Rex Ogle and Matteo Lolli take a fair amount of time setting up “Peaceful Vacation”. Granted, Ogle’s script is pretty damned funny, and Lolli’s artwork is very eye-catching with how animated it feels; I just wished it would have delved more into the fight between Peacemaker and the Nazi lizards at the beginning. That‘s the kind of absurdity I love in comics.
Fans of Peacemaker will also be happy to know that Peacemaker Presents: The Vigilante/Eagly Double Feature #1, being a DC Black Label book, is full of the bloody violence and off-color language that was present in the show. More and more, it feels like the Black Label is finally starting to be utilized to its full extent – or at the very least, focusing on characters who aren’t Batman – and the world of Peacemaker is a perfect fit for it.
Peacemaker Presents: The Vigilante/Eagly Double Feature #1 delivers all the bloody chaos and humor you’d expect from Peacemaker, while building out DC Studios’ new universe. If you’re still waiting for season 2 of Peacemaker to drop, this comic will definitely tide you over.
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