It’s strange, I was wondering the other day when this series would return. I’ve been missing it and so I’m glad that it’s back. It’s a strange bird. The rest of the ComixTribe titles ship quickly and at times I feel as if I can’t keep up, but with the flagship book it’s take it as it comes. I’m okay with that. I’ll wait for a good book and frankly I still really want to see how the entire story unravels. I think we get a pretty good idea here, but I’m not sure. There have been so many curves already in this series that I’m just not sure anymore. We’re down to three heroes and we only have one that we haven’t learned about. The one being Mold. Now if you’re not familiar with this series then yes, that is an homage to Martian Manhunter. This entire series is homage. It is Tyler James’ “never gonna happen” Justice League story because who would let you kill the Justice League off one by one?

What we’ve learned throughout this series is that the heroes all have something to hide. Something that makes them less than heroic and downright evil at times. When you think about that and think about the fact that it’s homage to the Justice League, well it does get you wondering about the original team. Frankly, I don’t think James is that far off from what we’ve seen done over the years with the famous super group.

Mold’s story isn’t actually the entire backstory. There’s a reason for that, but you’ll see why. Instead we see a lot of another character’s story, a character that’s homage to yet another character. We also see the possible return of a character as they take on Justice America. But which character will ultimately die? Read to find out.

Here’s the thing… five, even ten years ago, DC wouldn’t have touched this story. Now though… I think DC would make this a standalone graphic novel in a heartbeat. Who would have thought it possible? While I wasn’t confused by what happened in the story, I think that was all perfectly clear, I am confused as to how it’s all going to end. By that I mean that what’s presented here and then removed seemed like the most logical thing to happen given the story’s construction, but now… it’s been used and almost discarded. I’m interested for sure, but I’m still a bit lost on what could be the final outcome and I think with two issues left I should have more of an idea.

There were some good things behind Mold’s reveal, but overall I think that the swerve of the story devalued the character to a degree. It was almost as if the character was never important to the story and was used as a tool to reveal more of Justice America’s story. That’s my only knock to the story.

The art struggled a bit in the beginning of the issue. There were some weird proportions and inconsistencies in the design for the new character. On one page it looks as if he’s a giant and there’s a tiny truck driving by his foot. The inconsistencies with this character come in the face. Sometimes there was a heavy brow line, other times the face was smooth and young looking. You know it’s the same character, but it really bounces back and forth. After the opening though it’s business as usual and the book looks good. It was almost as if Cesar Feliciano wasn’t as comfortable with the opening as the rest of the book.

This is a solid issue. It was personally worth the wait, even if it wasn’t as strong as some of the previous issues. There’s some great reveals though and we’re down to the last two characters and the last two issues. It should be a good one and this stumble is no reason to stop reading the series. If you’ve been reading The Red Ten, then keep reading. If you’re new and this premise has caught your attention, then check out the first volume trade and get caught up.

Score: 3/5

The Red Ten #8 Writer: Tyler James Artist: Cesar Feliciano Publisher: ComixTribe Price: $3.99 Release Date: 2/3/16 Format: Mini-Series; Print/Digital