Juggernaut #5 // Review
Juggernaut and D-Cel crash the Dungeon in Juggernaut #5, by writer Fabian Nicieza, artist Ron Garney, colorist Matt Milla, and letterer Joe Sabino. Nicieza and company close out this stellar mini-series in a fitting fashion.
This book jumps around in time- in flashback, Juggernaut asks Xavier to take D-Cel in as a Krakoan and tries to convince her to go to the island before the two attack the Dungeon. The prison itself is empty, with just a teleport platform inside. Juggernaut goes through it and is attacked by guards with the powers of Swarm and Toad. They hit him with bees that sting and paralyze him when D-Cel saves the day. The two, however, are surrounded, but JUggernaut plays his hole card- he tells them that D-Cel is a mutant, and she requests Krakoan asylum. They let the two go, but the Dungeon's warden tells Juggernaut that they will continue experimenting and finding ways to use superhumans to destroy superhumans. A few days later, Xavier and Black Tom pick up D-Cel, and Juggernaut tells Black Tom to watch her. Later still, Juggernaut enlists Arnim Zola and Primus to reconstitute what's left of Quicksand. Juggernaut stops them from fighting and asks Primus and Quicksand to join him in his new life.
This mini-series has been such a treat. Nicieza perfectly captured Juggernaut, illustrating a man who had grown tired of his old life and wants to do something new, be someone new. Juggernaut has grown a lot in these last five issues, and Nicieza has done a marvelous job of showing him as a new man. The book's ending seems like a hook for more Juggernaut, and if Nicieza and company bring this level of quality to any forthcoming book, it will be a treat.
With Zola involved with the Dungeon, readers could be sure that the Dungeon was up to some bad stuff, and this issue reveals it- they want to destroy superpowered beings. They have a contract with the US government because if the government was caught experimenting on prisoners, it would be a huge stink. Juggernaut could have easily destroyed the whole operation. Still, D-Cel wouldn't have survived, so he made a decision that he probably wouldn't have back in the day- he protects his friend and puts his desire for destruction on the back burner, the mark of a new Juggernaut.
Ron Garney's art is pretty good in this one, but not as good as it has been. That's not a bad thing- there's still a lot of great visuals in the book. Garney is one of those talents that has gotten better and better over the years, and while this book doesn't reach the heights of some of the previous issues, it's still very good.
Juggernaut #5 closes out this amazing mini-series with a pitch-perfect ending. Nicieza finishes his redemption arc for Juggernaut and lays the groundwork for a new future for the character. Hopefully, this mini-series sold well enough for the story to be continued because Nicieza has done some stellar work with the character. Garney will hopefully continue to whatever comes next; his art in this issue is good but not his best. All in all, Juggernaut was a great mini-series that took a different look at a fan-favorite character and set him on a new path. Hopefully, fans will get to see more of his journey.
