Review by Ian Keogh

Emma has just given the obligatory new kid speech in front of the class when two FBI agents burst in and arrest her. Violently. In short order she learns from the extremely wealthy Zero Lawson that her previously unknown parents were the most successful robbers of all time, yet remain anonymous, while readers learn her birth name is Masterpiece and she’s a technological genius who also produces a webcomic. Her parents robbed billions from Lawson, and although he’s made billions more from films fictionalising their exploits, he still holds a grudge.

Brian Michael Bendis knows how to hook readers into a story with a viable exotic premise, yet he’s forgotten how to keep their attention. Despite the high concept to equal Mark Millar, Masterpiece rapidly begins to ramble, with Bendis paying too much attention to the overlapping dialogue and not enough to an underbaked plot. There’s some targeting of hateful celebrities, Masterpiece builds her own gang of talents and Bendis can’t delete any smart dismissive line that occurs to him. It’s smug and it’s tired, but worst of all it transforms likeable characters into unlikeable mouthpieces.

Alex Maleev has collaborated with Bendis before, most prominently on a long and acclaimed Daredevil run, but here there’s little to work with. He’s reduced to drawing page after page of conversations, varying the viewpoints professionally, but the only good design element is the distinctive pulp style character. Actually, that’s not quite true as there are a couple of places where Maleev can let loose with some exotic layouts, a sort of rub it in our faces about what might have been.

Bendis does pull everything together at the end with a clever finale, but it’s going to be a very patient reader with a high tolerance for waffle who gets that far.