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sherpawhale's review
4.0
I highly enjoyed the Deadshot one-shot, even though he's my least favorite of the Six (out of Scandal, Catman, Bane, Jeanette, and Ragdoll- it's like saying a certain type of chocolate is your least-favorite chocolate, out of your favorite chocolates). I also remain cautiously optimistic about the introduction of Black Alice. Can't wait for the next volume to get back down to business.
captwinghead's review
4.0
I kind of glossed over Ostrander's issue. It was pretty apparent that it wasn't Simone's writing in that it's the only issue without significant presence of a female character, the only women present are vapid and stupid, and it's surprisingly the only issue where the only people of color present are criminals. Also, I don't know if that was Deadshot's original origin story, but if it was, he's a lot less interesting than I thought he was.
Moving on, this volume gives us more on Black Alice. Her powers are super cool! While the whole cliche angsty teenage girl thing isn't quite my thing, I still liked her presence here. Her crush on Ragdoll was confusing but interesting.
I enjoyed Bane's continued big brother affection and protectiveness over Scandal. I liked seeing her girlfriend again, as well.
This volume got sidetracked by the Darkest Night arc, which is an arc I read a while back and didn't quite enjoy. However, the events in Belle Reve end in an entertaining way, so it was still enjoyable for me.
unwise_samwise's review
3.0
Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Gore, and Blood
marc_lucke's review
2.0
Danse Macabre opens with "Control", a one-shot tale from guest writer John Ostrander about Deadshot's internal struggle to maintain his self-control in the face of mushrooming traumas and self-loathing. The whole thing is a bit on the nose, but it works. Deadshot has always been a fun character to read, with his seductive blend of morbid sang-froid, languid charm and gallows humour; this tidy little story scrapes away some of the patina and lets us see what festers under the chrome mask.
"The Rabbit and the Grave" introduces Black Alice and shows us just how dark Blake can get as he coolly explains the finer points of dismemberment and torture to a civilian out for revenge. I don't usually like to criticize visual art because my understanding of technique is limited to "I know what I like" but I thought that Peter Nguyen's angular, jagged drawings were enormously distracting.
The final story in the book is a crossover with the rest of the DCU and involves some kind of magic black lanterns and Amanda Waller. I don't follow comics so I only half-understood the story, but at least it explained why Black Alice had been shoehorned into the team.
On the whole, this book had a lurching, disjointed feel to it and while there were some nice moments (mainly between Bane and Alice, or Deadshot and Catman), I was disappointed.