Fallen Angel
by Peter David, David Lopez (DC Comics, 2004)

Fresh from his cancelled Supergirl series, writer Peter David created Fallen Angel -- a decidedly strange turn.

The Fallen Angel, known only as Lee, is a heroine of sorts in the mystical city of Bete Noire, La., where the normal rules of justice don't apply. As Bete Noire's resident superhero, she dispenses justice as she sees fit, crossing moral lines with surprising flexibility and even enjoying regular sexual encounters with her nemesis, the city's above-the-law magistrate, Dr. Juris, who sometimes tries to kill her.

The question for David fans here is, is Lee a new identity for Linda Lee, one of the names borne by David's Supergirl? Nope, although that fact isn't made certain until much later, after DC cancels the Fallen Angel series and David moves it over to IDW. Obviously, he couldn't take Supergirl, even a defunct incarnation of Supergirl, along for the ride, so that tantalizing possibility was erased from the page.

But that's getting ahead of things; what we have now is a mysterious woman whose powers are varied but never clearly defined, who helps only those whom she deems worthy and who finds herself battling an ancient enemy who explodes its victims from within.

Having peeked at David's later IDW work, I have some idea of where he's going. But I have to say, I'm very interested to see how he gets from here to there, and where he goes after that. Fallen Angel is a new kind of character in a strange kind of place, all drawn from a very fertile and quirky creative mind.




Rambles.NET
review by
Tom Knapp

11 August 2007






index
what's new
music
books
movies