Story & Letters by: Ryan Ferrier
Art & Colours: Valentin Ramos
Published by: IDW Publishing
As D4VE reaches the final issue in volume 1, it is worth remembering how we have reached this phase in the story. In summation: humans created robots to make life easier and the net result was the rise of a robot civilization at the expense of the human world. Fast forward to an unfortunate alien invasion, and the remarkably sedentary robots struggle to cope. In the midst of this invasion there is one who will oppose the alien horde, unfortunately for the survival the unlikely hero is D4VE…
Here in issue 5 of D4VE, we’re at the climax of the story. When the previous issue closed off we had the tantalising prospect of a fight back from the robots, the scene was set for an explosive closing book of this series. The anticipation was there, the set up was in place, all the players knew their roles and then we hit the weakest issue in the series? While the opening section of #5 worked on one level, that of not giving the pay off from the set up in the prior book, the way in which it was handled was disappointing. While the series has had some fun moments, and it hasn’t taken itself too seriously, there have been some moments where the plot and pace could have been better, and it is regrettable that the creative team failed to muster any thunder with this issue.
The effect of the opening, of the writer trying to be cute and missing the mark, signalled the death knell for this book. The action and pace never really recovered and the dialogue was mostly lamentable throughout. It is curious that the standards should slip between the first segments of the story and this final piece.
D4VE should have been a fun, clever story. Given the fact that you have an aliens versus robots war, it should automatically score some cool points. The addition of some juvenile humour and a few moments of almost slapstick violence should have meant the creative team had an easy ride in delivering something worthwhile. The science here was never high brow, the overly generic robots and aliens failed to spark visual interest. It was all a little generic.
