I'll be honest.  I haven't been enjoying this storyline.  I think there are some interesting elements, and I think Andreyko has crafted it well, but I haven't care about this arc because I don't feel any emotional investment in what's at stake here.  I'm kind of having the same problem with Blue Beetle right now, too... and these are both books I like.  I will say that I found this issue a little more interesting, since we're finally getting into the action.  I am glad, however, that this arc is almost over.

Aside from the main plot, which I have a hard time caring about, there are two sub-plots.  One is about Kate's kid, who I have officially wanted dead ever since it was revealed he had powers.  Blessedly, there was very, very little of him in this book.  Seriously, I want the kid dead.  I hate super-powered kids.  It's a sign, to me, of jumping the shark.  And I don't want to believe that about this book, because I have truly enjoyed from issue #1.  The second sub-plot involves Dylan, Manhunter's handy man, and his old boss, The Joker.  This, I care about... but it's still building and we'll have to see how it will pay off.

What really brings me down, though, is the art.  When I saw Gaydos' art compared to whoever was doing it before the "break", I was pretty sure DC was (at best) not taking this book seriously or (at worst) hoping if they made it ugly enough, it would get cancelled again.  they brought in a co-artist for this issue, and his art is even worse.  The cover is quite horrible, as well.  It's generic, cheesy (covers with word balloons on them always feel that way to me), and does nothing to sell the book.  The cover of the next one looks better, if I'm to believe the preview, but the interiors will remain awful should either of the same artists remain.  And the inker?  Seriously, less is more.

Maybe I'm complaining so much because I have loved this book in the past, and I'm afraid it might go away again.  I just think this book deserves better treatment, Andreyko deserves better visuals, and we deserve some bigger stakes than a Mexican prison story.