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Global Frequency: Detonation Radio

Title

Global Frequency: Detonation Radio


Words by

Warren Ellis


Art by

Simon Bisley
Chris Sprouse
Lee Bermejo
Tomm Coker
Jason Pearson
Gene Ha
David Baron


Published by

DC Comics (US)
Titan Books (UK)


First published

2005


Originally published as

Global Frequency 7-12


Previous in series

Global Frequency: Planet Ablaze


Story

4 stars

Art

3 stars

Overall

4 stars

Global Frequency: Detonation Radio

Global Frequency: Detonation Radio

Following hot on the tail of Planet Ablaze, this second volume in the collected edition of Warren Ellis's near-future international rescue series offers more hardcore heroics from the world's finest problem solvers.

Global Frequency: Detonation Radio

If you haven't already read the first Global Frequency collection, check out our review. Although you could conceivably start almost anywhere due to the episodic nature of the series, it still makes sense to start from the beginning, as this volume expands on the original themes.

For starters, there's less schlock shock in this book and more plot. Now that we've got the gist of what the Global Frequency is and how it works, Ellis lifts the bar and starts introducing twists that might impact on the whole organisation, including an infiltration into GF headquarters and the kidnapping of key personnel. Having said this, there's one episode that almost entirely consists of a fight between two men capable of ripping each other apart, which gets a bit visceral in places - so fans of Ellis's violent side needn't feel like they're not going to get their money's worth.

As before, a raft of different artists take an episode each. This can have mixed effect, with some of the more stylised artists perhaps not towing the line of the series and turning out quite different looking chapters, where a single artist might add more coherency. However, it's still a pleasure to see some of the top names in comic art having the time and space to turn out an issue without the pressure of an entire series to drag them down.

So, while Ellis turns up the heat, the art still doesn't quite hit the spot. However, this is a greatly entertaining work and, with the pressure cranking up on the Global Frequency team, we're certainly looking forward to the next instalment.

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