Destro #4 - Image Comics

DESTRO No. 4, September 2024

Pedantically plodding, as well as somewhat illogical when it comes to the motivation of the Crimson Twins in wanting to buy M.A.R.S. Industries with a “really big cheque” despite the evident “unmarketable” deficiencies of the company’s B.A.T.S. project, Dan Watters narrative for Issue Four of “Destro” was probably seen by many readers as an example of sluggish storytelling. Indeed, apart from a fleeting example of the aforementioned deadly, though utterly undeployable “fully functioning autonomous soldiers” gunning one another down, and an incredibly brief physical spate involving Astoria Carlton Ritz, this particular twenty-page periodical is practically devoid of any action.

Instead, its plot is infuriatingly padded out with conversation after conversation, or even worse – the titular character writing a long letter to Major Flagg, thanking the United States of America’s military for being “so very naughty.” Such sequences would ordinarily have been fine if interspersing the high-octane dramatics normally associated with Hasbro's "G.I. Joe" media franchise. But when each dialogue-driven scene simply runs into another, with absolutely no respite, then many a bibliophile will surely start to struggle to make it through this entire comic book in a single session; “Honestly, you’re going to make me start to think that rich white board members of billion-dollar-valued tech companies can’t party.”

Of course, that isn’t to say that this mini-series’ penultimate instalment doesn’t have any merits, as the revelation that Ritz’s sentient Artificial Intelligence is behind the assassinate attempts upon Destro is definitely an intriguing, surprise twist. However, even something as enthralling as a warmongering computer arbitrarily deciding “how to end war on Earth” arguably loses a tremendous amount of its impact when such a disclosure occurs amidst a rather tiresome nineteen panel long discussion.

Quite possibly just as uninspired by this sedentary script is Andrei Bressan, who appears to have ‘won’ the lion’s share for padding this publication out to its required length. The Brazilian artist is clearly trying his very best to do so, as seen with his drawings of Astoria desperately attempting to outfox Destro by running through a luxurious nightclub. Yet even so proficient a penciller as him can’t manage to imbue all that much interest in a carousel of verbal exchanges, where the majority of the cast just scowl at one another whilst talking.

Writer: Dan Watters, Artist: Andrei Bressan and Colorist: Adriano Lucas