Annotated 30-1
So it’s this four-page sequence (dropped in at almost the last minute) that Phil and I argued over the most, and I’m still very much of two minds about it. The shift in perspective does help convey the scope of this battle, which is the sort of thing that can get lost if you concentrate too much on named-character plot beats (Hammerhead destroys door, Byron and Syr’Nj debate strategy, etc.). The Battle of Beacon’s Hill definitely needed some grunt-level action to season the splashy superhero fight at its center.
But in terms of sheer story efficiency, I was pretty nonplussed about panning around the battlefield for four pages before getting back to any of the dozen-odd protagonists whose fight with each other is supposed to be the main event. My impatience was sharpened by the break we’d had to take between chapters, but I don’t think I’m wrong to say Phil was using this sequence to procrastinate a bit. He didn’t want to pass the mic back to me, but he wasn’t quite ready to get into the grand battle between heroes he was planning. Frustrating!
Phil added Goblaurence’s monologue as a compromise, and that is a drastic improvement, especially as it foreshadows who will really decide the action of this chapter. Is it enough to make this sequence feel like the right call? Well, you can decide that one for yourself.
In Cockney English, “geezers” doesn’t necessarily mean old people, but I doubt it matters much.
I, personally, think it’s always valuable to see the horrors of war depicted in a general sense like this. The protagonists tend to have plot armor. But seeing the smoke rising up from the battlefield, and lots of soldier on both sides fighting and falling. It makes a battle feel more real.
Agreed. This was one of my favorite sequences, in part because of that.
I agree too. I recall that “the war” in the comic sometimes felt like a neglected footnote to me. Scenes of actual full scale conflict like this brought home that it wasn’t all just groups of 5-12 people going back and forth.
I like it. It’s a great shift in perspective and contrast. It’s true: when you pull back enough to look at any war, we should have the same bewildered expression on faces as those animals.
It wouldn’t have been half as effective without Goblaurence’s monologue, though. Definitely sells it to me.
I also really love this meditation on war.