Peacemaker Tries Hard #1 - Comic Review

 

The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker have been hugely popular parts of the recent DC film and TV releases, and the resulting success of both surely played a part in James Gunn being put in charge of the new DC film and TV universe. It's also not a surprise that characters such as Peacemaker have started to appear more now as a direct result. Peacemaker seems to be a big part of Amanda Waller's plans post Dark Crisis, and he's one of the antagonists in Unstoppable Doom Patrol. But, these versions are still trying to stay close to what the character was before the success of the live action version. However, thanks to DC's Black Label, which allows creators to make books outside of the regular DC continuity, the Peacemaker that the fans of the John Cena version get him in a book proper.

It's not stated that this book is set within the same continuity as the live action version, but there's a number of things in the book that seem to be saying that you can consider it to be if you want to. There's the fact that Peacemaker is John Cena for one. Every panel in which he's not wearing the helmet he looks like the actor. This isn't the first comic to make characters look like actors, it's been done a lot, and sometimes it can be quite jarring (I still find it weird whenever I see the Tommy Lee Jones version of Norman Osborne), but with Peacemaker it kind of works. He's a character that doesn't have a ton of comic appearances, and the Cena version is the one that made him not only popular, but well known to people who've never picked up a comic. 

The book begins with Peacemaker picking up some supplies at the grocery story whilst a young couple talk about the upcoming movie of their favourite comic, Tales From The Black Freighter. The cashier is concerned that Peacemaker is planning to make some kind of muscle cake thanks to the muscle powder and cake mix he's buying, which leads to a conversation about how much poop he'd eat in order to bring about peace. It's at this point it becomes clear that the book is going to be trying to emulate the comedy style of the series; and whilst it's not bad it does become apparent that not every writer is able to pull this off as well, and that a large part of the success of the series is the way Cena delivers the lines, and how he presents the character. The book does a decent job at emulating this, but it never quite manages to be as good as the show it's trying to be.

That being said, it's not bad comedy. There are a number of moments that feel like it could slip nicely into the show. The mission that he gets sent on by Waller to break up a terrorist cell that ends up with the terrorist and Peacemaker insulting each other throughout the fight and Peacemaker trying to justify how he's a cooler guy than any off them. Whilst there he comes across a stray french bulldog that he decides to adopt. Thanks to the markings that make him look like he's wearing a tuxedo he names the animal Bruce Wayne, because he's a fancy little guy.

When out picking up supplies for his dog, and the cake mix he fucked up, Bruce Wayne is kidnapped. Going after the people who have his new friend, Peacemaker finds out that The Brain and Monsieur Mallah are behind the theft, and are holding his dog in order to get Peacemaker to go on a mission for them; a mission to collect the genetic material from Deathstroke.

Overall, there's a lot to enjoy about the book. It's got its fun moments, the art is really good, and the story seems like it could be interesting. Half of the jokes land really well, though some do feel a bit forced, or a bit out of nowhere. If you're a fan of the TV series you're either going to enjoy the book, or really love it. And for those that hate it, it's Black Label, so you don't have to worry about it being in continuity.

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