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Access a version of the below that includes illustrations on my blog.

Kate Spencer is a divorced district attorney in Los Angeles, who becomes tired of the fact that that supervillains always break out of jail and kill again after she's put them away. So she decides to take the law into her own hands and track down escaped villains... and kill them. She steals superpowered equipment from the evidence locker and bullies a former henchman in witness protection into providing her with technical support. In the meantime, she has to balance her superheroics with being a mother.

Street Justice feels like a lot of set-up. I like Manhunter so far, but I would argue that not much has been done with the premise. There are the ingredients for a compelling story, but that story has not yet been told. On their surface, the stories here are pretty simple: Kate decides to become Manhunter and battles Copperhead, Kate tangles with the Shadow Thief while her son is in hospital, Kate tries to avoid the Justice League while they track down the murderer of Firestorm. Each of the stories is pretty simple in and of itself.

It's impossible not to see the influence of Alias on this book: both are about women in law-enforcement professions, and both women are depicted as more "real" than your average superheroine, with various foibles like drugs (Jessica drank a lot, while Kate smokes) and attitude problems and being embroiled in things like bad relationships. Writer Marc Andreyko stated in his introduction that he wanted a "fully-clothed, average-busted woman," though artist Jesus Saiz seems to have compensated for this by making her outfit improbably skintight and including a lot of ass shots. (Though, Jesus Saiz is a pretty solid artist in general whose work I feel is usually confined to miniseries, so I'm happy to see him get an ongoing here.)

What makes Manhunter work so far is the small things: Kate wondering how does Black Canary "do this in fishnets and heels" when she struggles in a supersuit, the Shadow Thief leaving a tip for his waitress, there being witness protection for supervillain henchmen (and the flashback panels showing ex-henchman Rich in different outfits as he transfers from Two-Face to Killer Frost to Black Manta), and Kate's gay assistant hitting on Aquaman when the Justice League comes to LA. Kate is definitely not an unflawed character (seriously, she is an awful mother, but then again, Batman is an awful father), but she is a "relatable" one and I look forward to seeing what Andreyko and company do with her now that the basic setup has been established.

Manhunter: « Previous in sequence | Next in sequence »

As Andreyko notes in the introduction to the edition I read, he entered the pitch meeting expecting to be turned down. But he figured he'd ask for what he wanted anyway. He wanted to write a woman he wanted to see. Smart, average breasted, smoker, basically Helen Mirren from Prime Suspect. A superhero willing to kill. While still being set in the DC Comics Universe. He was pleasantly surprised to find DC Comics management allowing him to have this series involving a superhero woman who fought crime in something other than a thong.

The opening issue shows Kate Spencer prosecuting a vicious reptile like man. Who has killed at least 46 people. And eaten many of them. That killer vicious reptile is found Not Guilty by reason of genetic anomaly (or something like that). Naturally, this annoys Kate.

Shortly thereafter, while being transported, killer reptile escapes and viciously kills the guards transporting him. Then he wanders around in a rampage. Kate gets word of this and heads to a hidden vault. Stares at some stuff. Nerves herself up and pulls on a costume and runs out to dispense some street justice. And kills killer reptile.

The only appearance of Two-Face, Killer Croc, the Joker, and Batman occurs that night after Kate killed the killer reptile. In a dream. Batman is, as somewhat usual, sitting there in a closet in bondage, while the bad guys mock him and get set to do evil things to him. Manhunter - Kate, dives in and kills the bad guys. Cuts Batman lose. Also as usual, Batman's immediate response is to viciously batter Kate. Because killing is just so damned wrong. Then Kate wakes up.

The storyline of Kate becoming Manhunter continues in this volume. Plus a story involving Kate's ex-husband, and their child. Shadow Thief pops up because killer reptile (man I wish I remembered what killer reptile's name was) was his best friend. ST viciously batters Kate as Manhunter. And then some actual established superheros turn up when they get word that ST was spotted in LA. They want him, because he had just killed one of their own (I can't remember if it was Firestorm or Captain Atom who was killed - it occurred off-page).

Quite an interesting story. Self-contained. One of the issues did intersect with an ongoing multi-series event, but the only reason I know that is because that was mentioned in the introduction. The point being, that this time the intrusion of an outside storyline was worked seamlessly into the ongoing story, instead of being overwhelming. There are at least four more volumes of this series, and I wish to eventually get them. Or, at least, the next one and probably more. ( )

Dark without feeling forced, Manhunter manages to bring together memorable characters and a great concept. Although the lawyer-by-day-vigilante-by-night idea may seem played out, Kate Spencer feels unique. She's inexperienced without being naive. She's tough as nails without being a cold bitch. She's worried about her fractured family without becoming mawkish or saccharine. ( )