Man am I sad, one of the better DC books out there has come to an end after a magical 12 issue run. The adventure of the Vigilante played out like a great action flick. It had everything I needed, action, intrigue, and drama. I think what I liked best about the book was the main characters blatant imperfection.
Heroes are always heroes so to speak, white hats if you will. Adrian Chase and his brother Dorian, the current Vigilante, are both characters that stand apart from others and their ilk in the fact that they are truly flawed, and in Dorian’s case very guilty. It makes their transformation into what they become that much more remarkable.
Take Batman for instance, a vigilante, his story is classic and yes, he is flawed, but over the years he has shed that vigilante guise and has become accepted as a ‘hero’ to the people. Issue #10 of Vigilante even invites the new Batman into the story just to point out the vast difference between the two. Dorian Chase is a logical progression over the ‘Bruce Wayne’ archetype, where we have a hero with a unique motivation.
The best way to describe Vigilante for the uninitiated is that he’s a cross between Nightwing and The Punisher. The Punisher kills, and is on a revenge kick. Vigilante wears a costume to conceal his identity which makes a lot of sense in the story. Frank Castle doesn’t bother to conceal his identity which makes absolutely no sense and was a major point of weakness in the last Punisher film. Vigilante just makes sense, and it does so within the framework of a larger comic book universe.
Midway through the series Vigilante meets the Teen Titans and the regular Titans. This brush with the DCU was well handled by Marv Wolfman, a man who knows a thing or two about crossovers. What is so special about Vigilante is that he brings a grittiness to DC that Batman has long since been unable to muster for one reason or another. What was most special about the meeting between The Titans and Vigilante was that it worked well in conjunction with the DCU.
Often times characters are misrepresented when they venture into other books. The writer needs a certain outcome and often times lesser characters act out of character in order to expedite matters within the story. That didn’t happen to Dorian Chase or the Titans, Wolman crafted a story where all the players were allowed to behave just as they would were they the star of the story.
What I find both encouraging and aggravating at the same time is the ending of the 12th book. A cliffhanger? Really? I love the idea that DC is promising me more Vigilante, but I could have also used a bit more closure. Sometimes the reminder that the saga is never ending can be a jarring one.
With any luck you wont have to take my word for it and Vigilante will hit the collected edition market soon enough. The book truly is a triumph for DC Comics. The story will appeal to those who have done away with a lot of the conventions that comics typically prescribe to. So if you’re looking for some dark justice that’s actually dark. Look no further than Vigilante.
