Source: comicvine.gamespot.com

7. The Laws of Battle

Writer: Bill Willingham                                                                                                                                                        Artist: Tom Derenick

"Your disabilities are just the crutch you use to hide your profound selfishness."

Ooooooooooffffffffff. That might be the grossest thing I've seen a hero say in a while.

This issue is a deep step down in most ways. HOWEVER, Tom Derenick's artwork is great. He's next level on this book right now.

But Willingham's writing is at its worst since the first issue. It's deeply unpleasant. Remember how I said that Eddie was instantly more interesting and likable than the entire main cast? Yeah, having the team mock and insult him for being disabled DOES NOT help with that. As uttered by team leader Nightmaster, the line I quoted above is so upsetting that I had to set down the book for a second to type it up word for word. And it has nothing to do with the story.

In the story, the team is able to turn Enchantress and Ragman back into humans. Nightshade, Blue Devil, and Ragman set off to investigate, and run into The Congregation. As far as the plots go, this book is incredibly dated and mired in mediocre writing. Characters never stop stating what they're doing, they all sound alike, and there's no real overarching story to speak of. Look, if this were just mediocre comic booking, I could handle it, but the treatment Eddie experiences in this issue is inexcusable. I have not talked about Willingham's politics here, because that's not what this article is about, but if that first line isn't a banner for his beliefs, I don't know what is.