We Stand On Guard #5 Review

Writer: Brian K. Vaughan / Artist: Steve Skroce / Image Comics We saw that coming, right? Issue #5 of We Stand On Guard begins where everyone’s last prediction left off: we’d see Tommy in more than just flashback scenes. We’re almost to our finale in this book, which leaves a lot of ground to cover in this issue and the next, but strangely enough I don’t feel much ground was covered this time around. No revelatory flashbacks, no betrayals or heel-turns – consider this the quiet before the storm, because aside from a few more gruesome scenes to add to the catalogue, this issue was somewhat insignificant. One lesson it did reiterate? Well, Amber is a badass.

[divider type=”space_thin”] Not only is she a badass, she’s one of those take-no-prisoners, kill-them-all types, which is what you want to see going against a villain as calloused and evil as “The American.” Oh – yeah – the villain is now simply known as “The American,” so if you’re one of those readers who planned to quit if this series continued its unabashed anti-American propaganda, well… you’ve come this far, you might as well just ride out. Since we’re nearing the end, it’s worth highlighting that while the series thus far has been a fun read, my biggest detraction is the lack of character development outside of our protagonist. The book focuses on Amber, sure, but the Two-Four had some promising characters that never saw their potential and at this point likely never will. With just a little bit of story left to go,…