Review: Event Leviathan

Quick Summary

Pros: The book’s main mystery is intriguing and pulls you in right from the start. The investigation into the mystery is mostly enjoyable and progresses in a way that is exciting. The artwork is beautiful throughout the volume.

Cons: The “heroes vs. heroes” aspect of the mystery is uninteresting. The conclusion to the main mystery is a bit disappointing and takes away from the mystery as a whole.

Overall: Despite the hype surrounding this book, the end result is pretty mediocre. There are points where the mystery here is highly compelling and where unexpected narrative twists will pull the reader in even further. However, there are also points where the mystery loses its luster and the conclusion does not impress. Readers interested in mysteries may enjoy this book but those looking for a seriously worthwhile DC event may want to look elsewhere.

Story

Event Leviathan, by Brian Michael Bendis, is alright but doesn’t really live up to the hype it set for itself. The main positives come from the intrigue created throughout the storyline. The mystery of Leviathan and the investigation into this mystery is enjoyable and contains unexpected twists that make it even more enjoyable. However, not every element of the mystery works out. The friction between the heroes reads poorly at times and the big reveal at the volume’s conclusion is somewhat disappointing. In the end, this collection is alright if you’re just reading it for the mystery, but if you are expecting a grandiose event you may not like it as much.

(spoilers start here)

Event Leviathan starts out with a solid level of intrigue. The explosive way in which Leviathan successfully eliminates their opponents makes them seem unstoppable and instantly sets some high stakes for the event as a whole. Plus, the intrigue is there from the start, as the individuals and exact motivations behind Leviathan are a mystery.

However, Event Leviathan mismanages this otherwise appealing sense of intrigue. The narrative immediately begins casting suspicion on a variety of heroes, suggesting that any one of them may be the leader of Leviathan. While this could have created a tense sense of mistrust and suspicion, it does not do this successfully. Instead, everyone suspected in this book feels like an obvious red herring, especially Red Hood. I feel like Bendis was trying to go for the “Who do you trust?” atmosphere he created in Marvel’s Secret Invasion event but simply did not hit the mark.

Outside of these red herrings however, the actual mystery is pretty enjoyable. It starts with the heroes having almost no idea what is going on. Then, intelligence comes in from Batgirl, more detective heroes reveal their findings, Talia reenters the fray, and Sam Lane ultimately admits that Leviathan is following ideas he laid out himself. These twists and turns keep things interesting for the majority of the mystery’s duration.

Unfortunately, the conclusion takes the wind out of the sails once more. The reveal that the original Manhunter, Mark Shaw, is the head of Leviathan is pretty anticlimactic. Bringing back a character like this for an event only barely related to his original appearances is a somewhat lackluster way of handling a legacy character. Plus, his plan, which was constantly pitched as being “different” from the plans of other villains, ends up being as basic as can be, with him attempting to bring “order” to the world by enforcing his will.

(spoilers end here)

Art

The most consistently positive aspect of Event Leviathan is undoubtedly the artwork. Alex Maleev’s work is wonderfully designed and looks great on nearly every page. The characters are expressive and interesting, the confrontations are energetic, and the splash pages are immediately striking. This is all further enhanced by this volume’s colors, which perfectly match every scene and give the entire book a unique flair.

I also really appreciated the visual creativity found throughout this book. Leviathan himself has an awesome design that instantly grabs your attention. However, the energy weapons used by the Leviathan organization, the locations, and even the page structures have plenty of creativity as well. This helps set the book apart from a visual standpoint and makes it memorable, even if the storyline is lackluster. 

Continuity

Event Leviathan is an event that mostly stems from the main narrative in Action Comics Vol. 2: Leviathan Rising (Review).

The story here, currently, does not directly continue in a specific comic. A follow-up event is planned for some point in the future.

This volume also references other comic books, detailed below:

• Event Leviathan #1 mentions that Superman (Reading Order) has “urgent family business elsewhere in the galaxy”. This business is detailed across the conclusion of Superman Vol. 2: The Unity Saga: House of El.
• Batman mentions that he is “Sorry about Roy”. This alludes to what happened in Heroes in Crisis (Review) (Reading Order).
• Superman’s old Fortress of Solitude was destroyed in The Man of Steel (Review). His new one was created in Superman Vol. 1: The Unity Saga: Phantom Earth.