Deron Generally
Deron Generally
Sideways #6
DC Comics
Written by Dan DiDio
Art by Carmine di Giandomenico
Colors by Dan Brown
Letters by Travis Lanham
Derek James is going to get his hero moment. The moment that a hero or villain becomes defined by and it will come with all of the emotional baggage that heroes carry with them. This is the moment that Sideways has to decide what hero he is going to be, if at all. The issue is told from Derek’s point of view and you can tell from the first few pages that there is something ominous in the wind. Derek has another fight with his mom about where he keeps sneaking off to. His dad is no help and the tension between all of them is palpable when Derek finally leaves.
The young hero tries to find someone to help him so he goes to his friend Ernie, but she’s gone. Derek then decides to seek out Tempus and finds the warrior engaged in battle. Getting a moment to forget his personal problems for a while, Sideways leaps into battle to help, but a tragedy is forming on the horizon, especially when his mother learns something she shouldn’t have.
Six issue into this series and DiDio decides to turn the emotional screws. It’s a good thing that he did so. As enjoyable as the overall series has been, there’s been too many comparisons that could be made to other teenage heroes. Something about Sideways needed to stand out and both the event in this issue and the fact that his mother’s company has been watching him will help to define what the character is up against both personally and as a hero. Something the character needs in order to flesh him out as a hero in his own right.
The art by Giandomenico is astounding. There are some great details in everything he’s drawn in this issue and the angles used for some of the shots are visually dynamic, especially the final panel at the end. The fluid nature of the art helps to capture the eye, especially in the action scenes and splash pages.
