Breach #3 (May, 2005)

In 2005, DC Comics had planned to offer a revised and modernized version of the old Charlton Comics character Captain Atom, whom they had purchased in the early '80s and had previously headlined a five year long solo series for the company. As seems to happen a lot when creators attempt a "mature" take on those characters (see also: Watchmen,) DC decided to go another way and have the creators simply work on a thinly disguised analog instead. Along came Breach, who soon attracted attention...

From the Watchtower on the moon, the Martian Manhunter observed, "Amazing. This is the third unidentifiable energy signature emerging out of South Africa in two days. The Pentagon told us the initial two were from an operation they were conducting. But this one is far more powerful." Batman had thought that notification was odd. "I agree. There were indications here of time/space distortion that current military technologies could not hope to achieve." Batman thought this warranted further investigation, and Superman agreed.

"The Beacon" was by Bob Harras, Marcos Martin and Alvaro Lopez. There was not a single straight on shot of the JLA heroes during this sequence, recalling how the super-heroes were treated in an old Alan Moore issue of Swamp Thing. In fact, Harras and Martin seem to be doing their level best to make the Breach series something more sophisticated and ambitious than the norm. They don't quite pull it off, landing more in the vicinity of overly self-serious, but it's still a good looking book that reads well. I plan to cover the entire run at Power of the Atom, so if this taste piques your interest, check it out.