The Movement #11

By Gail Simone, Freddie Williams II and Chris Sotomayor

The Movement’s penultimate issue sees the team journey outside Coral City for a Burden-centric issue that really works, providing a great character study but also being bittersweet – Simone’s making us care about these characters even more but at the same time we know there’s only one more issue left in this series, which is a real shame because this title deserves to have a long lasting run – it’s just that good.

The plot itself serves nicely as a standalone issue with a nice twist at the end of the comic. There’s no cliffhanger to be found, and the plot is refreshingly simple compared to the large amount of superhero epics that we’ve seen recently. It helps that Batgirl aside, this title has remained largely separate from the wider DC Universe – and this book hasn’t been dragged into the events of Forever Evil in its final issues which would have prevented a proper send-off for these characters.

The storyline is as compelling as ever and Simone really makes you sympathise with Burden as a character. She also manages to prove that these characters really shouldn’t be left in limbo after this series wraps – there’s just that good potential to keep exploring the Movement team, which consists of among the most diverse superhero team that you’ll see in mainstream comics – and hopefully if they do reappear, it’ll be sooner rather than later.

The final fight at the end of the issue is pulled off incredibly well and is one of the highlights of the book, with Burden in full devil form and it’s really enhanced by both Simone’s script and the visuals on offer. It also shows just how threatening Burden can be in combat – and it’ll be interesting to see if Simone utilises the character in any action sequences that show up in the finale.

Freddie Williams II’s pencils are pretty good. He pulls off the dark atmosphere of Coral City in the opening pages and even when the Movement leave the City the mood doesn’t change, with a dark feel running through this title with the cohesive and quality artwork that will make this title read even better in collected format. Chris Sotomayor’s colours also help add to the darker feel of this book – and it really pays off with these two being a great match.

Overall then, The Movement #11 was a great standalone issue that explored Burden’s character successfully. It once again proves why Simone is an excellent writer and hopefully she will give these characters the send-off that they deserve next month.