My Rating
“Private Lives”
Late in the evening, most of the Challengers of the Unknown stand around a caseworker’s desk staring at a collection of gruesome murder-scene photographs. How could a young girl commit such atrocities? Her father, mother, and four-month-old sibling—all killed in separate attacks throughout the family home. The team discusses the disturbing case in disbelief, but one member is noticeably absent. Where is Clay Brody?
What the Challengers don’t know is that Clay lies unconscious in a hospital bed just down the street from the police station. The problem is that Clay doesn’t know he’s there either. In his mind, Clay Brody exists somewhere else entirely, slipping between different places, different times, and seemingly different versions of himself.
Who—or what—is Clay Brody now? Is he a killer, a failed stock-car driver, or a domestic abuser? Are these fragments pieces of Clay’s forgotten past, alternate lives, or something much stranger? Most importantly, what is real and what exists only inside his fractured mind? Collect the series to find out!
Review
“Private Lives” was an interesting experiment, but I found this issue even harder to follow than the last one. The story throws the reader directly into Clay Brody’s fractured reality without providing many handrails along the way. Scenes change abruptly, identities seem to shift, and past and present begin bleeding together. I understood that confusion was part of the experience, but understanding the intention didn’t necessarily make the story easier to follow.
In fact, I eventually had to track down DC Comics’ official explanation of the issue before everything started falling into place. Once I understood what the creators were attempting, I appreciated the story more. Unfortunately, the comic itself didn’t give me enough information about Clay Brody’s background to piece everything together on my own. Perhaps longtime readers who already knew more about Clay would have caught the clues immediately, but with my limited knowledge of the character, much of it sailed right over my head.
I will give the creators credit for trying something different. “Private Lives” isn’t a conventional superhero story, and the fractured storytelling does put the reader inside Clay’s confused state of mind. That’s a clever idea on paper, but if I need an outside explanation to fully understand what I just read, something didn’t quite connect for me. The artwork continues to impress, and I’m still curious enough about these characters to keep going. Three out of five stars.