I'm a late-comer to the Manhunter saga, and I find that unfortunate after having read Marc Andreyko's "Who's your Daddy?" story arc. I have missed over a year of stories that (yes, I'm extrapolating here; sue me) can only be as good as this one. There is an upside, however - I have the thrill of locating and reading sixteen back-issues that maybe will tide me over until I decide what to do about issue #20. Come on - you know what I'm talking about. Issue #20. One Year Later. Where everything changes.

Scary stuff, change. But let's talk about Manhunter pre-OYL.

Wow.

As a new reader, it took me about three reads and a quick Internet search to get a handle on the people and motivations in issue #17 (my local comic store was sold out of issue #16). This isn't a bad thing; in fact, I'd say it's a damn good thing. If I pick up a comic and am intrigued enough to break off reading and do a bit of background research, then I'd say that I'm reading a great comic. We read to find out what happens next, to have our questions answered. If we have no questions while we read then either 1) the storyteller is telling us the answers at such a pace that suspense is killed or 2) we simply don't care what's going on. Among the questions I wanted answered were "What side of the political fence does Kate Spencer play on?" [based on the Ann Coulter comment and her new position with the DEO (Department of Extra-normal Operations)], "What is Kate Spencer about and why is her boss a skeleton?", "Who's the chubby guy in the armor?" (I soon learned his name is Dylan. Yay! Question answered!), "Do Cameron Chase and Director Bones know about Kate's side job?" (I found out that at least Cameron does), and (later on) "When did Cameron kick Batman's ass?" (still don't know the answer to this one). I kept reading, wanting answers and asking more questions.

Ah! And the gay folk in Manhunter abound. As I understand it, Marc Andreyko is himself gay, as is editor Joan Hilty, AND as are two recurring characters - Todd Rice (more famously known as Obsidian, the son of the original Green Lantern, Alan Scott) and Damon Matthews who are in love and as cute as they can be. What I like about Todd and Damon's relationship is that it's not tortured (see below for my thoughts on Kate being similarly non-tortured) or disease-ridden or headed for a tragic end. These guys are in love and I enjoy seeing them as a regular couple. In the three issues of Manhunter I read there was more man-on-man action (OK, it was really a very sweet kiss and some post-coital cuddling) than in seven seasons of Will & Grace. In his interview in Prism Comics: Your LGBT Guide to Comics 2006, Terry Moore of Strangers in Paradise fame said that if gay people want to feel validated and "normal", they need only look at the literature of their time, and comics are the literature of our time, up there with Dickens and Poe. With Andreyko being in our corner, I think we have good representation. And, of course, I had tons more questions about the future of Todd and Damon.

Again, having questions is a damn good thing. Andreyko's story has a wonderful pace that not only pushes the story forward but also gives new readers enough context to not be totally lost in the story. And it's not that devisive stuff like "A Very Special Thanksgiving Episode of Friends" wherein every past Thanksgiving episode is recapped so viewers can feel they know the backstory. Nuh-uh. I don't think Andrekyo would do that to his audience. But still, within pages of reading an issue, a new reader can develop a context for the story pretty quickly and then gleefully free-fall through the action.

"Glee" sums up my experience reading Manhunter. There's a certain - I don't want to say "upbeat" energy about the book, but there is a joy in the story that holds the reader at gunpoint and starts shooting once the negotiators arrive. It dares you to not have fun. And the book is fun. Take the “Who's Your Daddy?” story-arc. It's about Kate's real Dad (Walter Pratt, who has the best bad guy line ever - "If you tell [Cameron] it's me [on the phone], I'll beat Peter to death. With Ramsey." oooOOOooh!) kidnapping her ex-husband and son in an attempt to harvest his gradson's bone marrow and arrest the myeloma (bone marrow cancer) that's killing him. It's simple and it's effective in its presentation of Kate's anxiety. As I read, I started to feel anxious for Pete and Ramsey's safety, and I really wanted to see Kate kick Walter's ass black and blue when she caught up with him. I cheer for Kate when she goes after bad guys because you just know they deserve it.

And here lies the rub.

What I find most intriguing about Kate is her morality. From all evidence in the issues I read (and admittedly from my Internet search) Kate has killed before and was more than willing to kill again (granted her family was threatened, but still: "once is an accident, twice is a character flaw."), but she's not all torn up about it inside. I like this. It's interesting to see a hero/vigilante who doesn't get bent out of shape when blood is spilt. Don't get me wrong - Kate isn't a psychopath. I feel that Kate is a loving, caring woman who is interested in justice, but knows her (night) job will involve killing for justice. This is what I find so intriguing about her - she's a lawyer working for Director Bones of the DEO, which makes her, technically, an agent, which means, technically, she has some latitude when it comes to pursuing her cases with extreme prejudice - like how Scully was eventually allowed to fire her gun on The X-Files even though she was an MD. We don't per se view federal agents or even cops as killers even though they are armed and trained to use deadly force.

Manhunter isn't a persona that Kate puts on to express darker impulses; Manhunter is Kate and vice versa. Kate is not hell-bent on some self-righteous mission against evil; she's an agent of Justice, and ultimately, Justice is not everyone-goes-home-feeling-good-about-themselves-and-the-universe. Justice can be very bloody. I'm almost impatient to see how Kate's morality is defined, challenged and altered. This may be the book's one failing - I almost always side with Kate. The bad guys are fleshed out just as much as the good guys are, but this makes them even more dispicable. I love Kate not being in a constant state of alas-and-alack-I'm-wracked-with-guilt-for-setting-myself-up-as-judge-jury-and-executioner a la Batman, but at the same time, can Andreyko's KISS approach work forever?

Which brings me to my last point.

I have not yet picked up Manhunter #20 because I'm worried. With that issue, One Year Later begins, and my experiences with OYL so far have been not the best. I loved the Teen Titans, but found issue #34 to be mopey. More mopey than the last few seasons of ER. Inifinite Crisis ended a year before and in all that time, the most "healed" characters in TT were Wendy and Marvin (and don't even get me started about them...). Aquaman was less interesting than before (even with the tighter pants). The Outsiders - meh. So, I'm worried about Manhunter. I worry that the new revised history will change the direction of Andreyko's storyline - Will Obsidian still be the son of Alan Scott? Will Kate still be the granddaughter of the original Atom (and this makes me wonder how much older the Atom was than Green Lantern if the former has a great-grandson while the latter only has a son; does anyone know the history of their respective marriages/dating experiences?)? Will Kate decide that killing is wrong and find religion? My one hope is that Manhunter exists outside the mainstream DCU storyline so maybe it can continue it's gleeful way with little to no shockwaves from IC or OYL.

In short, get Manhunter if you haven't already. And hope that DC hasn't maimed it from 20 on.

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Sean McGrath is the author of the comic Frater Mine and is quickly closing in on his last day as a teacher. While not looking forward to even temporary unemployment, he is looking forward to not raising 110 children that are not his. "Keep Sean Fed" donations can be made via PayPal to stseanoftheknife@austin.rr.com.

All characters and images © 2006 DC Comics. Review © 2006 Sean McGrath.

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