The Movement #5

If I knew Virtue in real life, I'm fairly certain that mask wouldn't stop me from recognizing her.

Hopefully this issue has a little card I can cut out, fill out, and send in to DC to become a member of The Movement. As long as it wouldn't interfere with my duties in my other clubs such as Captain Cosmic, Elfquest, and Mr. Bill, I think I'd be a decent Movementeer!

Man Cannon has hired some mystery sexpots to take care of the Movement in Coral City. He's a bit concerned that other groups are popping up across the country and even in other countries that aren't this one. Like China. And the other ones. I don't have time to list them all! Get a map if you need to know that badly. Oh! Spain! That's another country!

Meanwhile the Police Chief decides to meet with a member of The Movement in neutral territory.

Oh! It's Virtue! I didn't recognize her without the mask!

It's interesting to see two characters in a comic book acting so rationally. Interesting? It's as rare as a Chupacabra that doesn't end up being a raccoon with severe mange. Even after the embarrassment The Movement has caused the police department, Police Captain Chief Meers remains focused on keeping the police force acting for the good of the community. He listens to Virtue's complaints and he's willing to try to compromise with her. In the end, they both want the same thing. A safe community with police acting as part of that community instead of above it. He even shows compassion and sympathy for Virtue and her young friends.

No wonder this comic book isn't selling that great. Comic book fans don't understand rational discourse and interesting characters! Nobody is punching anybody else! Virtue realizes domino masks are ridiculous for hiding identity! They're both wearing normal clothing! What the fuck is going on here?! How are comic book fans supposed to follow this surreal scene?!

This panel had me worried! After all that calm discourse, I thought for sure Virtue would say okay and the rest of the comic would be The Movement playing Nintendo in a dark basement. Luckily for us comic book fans, she's not heeding his warning!

The rest of The Movement are currently holding a trial for the two cops that sexually harassed the young woman in the alley in Issue #1. I'd say the big jerky guilty cop already had time served if you count the number of teeth Katharsis knocked out of his mouth. What more are they going to do to him if they find him guilty? Which they already know he is. Why even bother with a fake trial? To make it look like they're following some kind of rules of justice? Just kick him in the balls a few more times and toss him out on the street. Although they might just have to put him down after this. He's going to be looking for some major payback once he's back on the force patrolling the city.

The trial is being streamed live, so maybe that, simply, is the point. Get their faces out there. Let the people decide if they want to trust them when they run into them in the future. Put a camera on them and then let them show who they really are.

I was going to write a long essay on power and authority, on how those given a mandate to protect the people must protect even the people who show genuine dislike for them, and how citizens must be just as careful in their policing and judgments of the police. Instead, I spent the last five minutes trying to get my thumb to bend like Vengeance Moth's.

Meanwhile, Mouse's writing is interrupted by one of his rats (Gaston, if you want to keep track) who has just seen the Cornea Killer about to claim another victim. Mouse's rats help Mouse with his writing. My helper is unimpressed.

And suddenly very hungry.

As Vengeance Moth takes the cops back to their cell, Joe the Big Ugly One decides to make an escape by shoving Vengeance Moth out of her chair. Are we finally going to get to see her use her super powers? My guesses in the past have been Erratic Flight, Clothing Eating, and Extreme Murdering. Hey, the Vengeance part of her name has to come into play somehow!

I think this constitutes Erratic Flight. Next up, Extreme Murdering. Also as a bonus because of the way the page was set up and rat surfing should always be documented, Mouse!

Mouse gets his ass kicked by The Cornea Killer because he really should have called for backup. This is a team book, stupidhead. If I want to see team members going in alone and acting idiotic, I'll reread the Teen Titans. I expect better out of you! I understand you have an army of rats at your side but you're just going to get them killed too.

Vengeance Moth seems to have some kind of screechy noise power. Maybe it's something about the fluttering of her moth's wings. It could also be that she's just annoying like a moth fluttering about your peripheral vision. Maybe she just drives them crazy. Before things can get too serious with the Vengeance part of her powers, Katharsis storms in to nearly murder Joe. Nearly because Tremor steps in and saves the cops. She also gives them an escape route and lets them go. I'm not sure what Vengeance Moth is doing at this point. Maybe she was distracted by a light bulb.

Back to Mouse, he gets the upper hand with the help of his rats. But The Cornea Killer has some sexy friends with him because The Cornea Killer seems to have purchased People Hunting Rights in Coral City from Man Cannon and Man Cannon's Council Board of Corporate Asshats.

Members of The Graveyard Faction from left to right: Pigpen, Hester Prynne, Ass Holster, and Butterface.

The Movement #5 Rating: +1 Ranking. I checked figures for comic book sales in August and The Movement was right around the bottom near Ann Nocenti's Katana. That's a travesty. I have a theory that Ann Nocenti just randomly pounds away at a keyboard and turns in her script with whatever Autocorrect decided she was trying to say. But Gail Simone is knocking it out of the park with this comic. I can only hope that word of mouth continues to spread or DC just starts slapping Batman on the cover simply so more people will give this book a chance. Come on, people! I can't give this thing any more of a boost than I already am. And while you're at the comic book store picking up any copies of The Movement lying around, pick up All Star Western as well!