Darkwing Duck #15

Ian Brill and James Silvani

"The Ballot of Darkwing and Launchpad"- Just to reiterate- this is the best comic that's coming out right now, and it gets better with each issue. Previously, a crop of new supervillains, gifted with special abilities courtesy of a mysterious new villain, have appeared and have pushed Darkwing to the limit. Meanwhile, the hero is trying to run for mayoral office, but his lead supporter, Launchpad, has now joined the race.

Summary: As Darkwing is lamenting the fact that Launchpad is running against him, in addition to straight laced and Anti-Darkwing leaning Constance A. Dention, he is battling another new supervillain, Eagle Eye, an eagle with eyes that can freeze things. One of these things is Tito, the chihuahua from Oliver & Company. As they fight we cut back and forth between the fight and Constance's appearance on the news, both discussing how Launchpad is now the leader in the race. Eagle Eye has darkwing pinned and is about to finish him when Spike, Bushroot's old pet, arrives and knocks the villain out. Darkwing then takes off to his hideout, thinking about how his past keeps cataching up with him. Arriving, he goes on a tirade to Gosalyn and Honker about the issues with Launchpad. Goz suggests that he and Launchpad just talk to each other instead of doing this, but Honker advises Darkwing to just smear mud and discredit Launchpad and it should make the public warm up to the hero. Meanwhile, Launchpad is also working on a campaign with the help of a beloved DuckTales character: Doofus (Yeah, I don't remember him either). Doofus tells him that he needs to be thinking bigger than mayor and think President Launchpad. On the other end of town, Constance is meeting with the mysterious Bob to discuss poll numbers. (It should be noted that the assistants in Constance's office, though they could be Bob's, are the weasels from Who Framed Roger Rabbit) Constance notes that before she met Bob, she was so shy, but thanks to him she's coming in second in the polls. Bob mentions that he met with Darkwing and Launchpad recently as well, so we have that to look forward to... A group called Citizens for a Non-Darkwing Society has formed and their lead funder is Launchpad, which infuriates Darkwing. He explains that his plans as mayor are to militarize the police force, mirroring much of what the Darkwing from the "Duck Knight Returns" universe was like, so that no one can feel the pain of loss like he has. Goz continues to point out that the two friends need to just talk it over, but Darkwing ignores her. He heads off to a Launchpad fundraiser and the two go back and forth fighting about supporting the Anti-Darkwing Society and the Anti Launchpad Action Committee. The two realize that they never knew about supporting either of these groups, and that it must be someone else. Both realize the ink from Bob's business card's is what's making them act like this, and sure enough, his ink is also in the DNA of some of the new captured supervillains. The team heads off to discuss what all this means, then the two once-again-friends head to the mayoral debates. Constance is already there, passing out forms for both the Anti groups to all those in attendance (I WONDER WHAT KIND OF INK SHE USED!!!!!). As the two prepare to verbally lay some smack on Constance, the nameless pink villain arrives, claiming to be the voice of the people, and she is called... (go ahead and prep yourself...)

Darkwing apologizes to Constance for thinking she was behind this, and Suff-Rage says that Darkwing will be finished, courtesy of ... (Prepare yourself again... this one's getting ridiculous)

The team, consisting of Lilli-putt, Jambalaya Jake (and Gator), The Bugmaster, Professor Moliarty, and Tuskernini who sucked so much as a villain, even Darkwing can't remember him, all get taken out pretty quickly, but as it turns out, they are just figments of Darkwing's imagination and they all disapear. Turns out this was a distraction so that Suff-Rage could trigger the audience to become zombies and they encircle the three candidates.

Highs: Once again, a pretty solid read that never stops being entertaining, but the fact that this is coming to an end really bums me out which leads to the Low

Lows: Knowing that this is the last storyline for the book is really depressing because I don't feel like this is the epic that it should be. Any of the previous stories seem much more suited for this kind of thing- Crisis on Infinite Darkwings and the Duckthulu thing. This just seems kinda weak.

Verdict: A-. Much like a great Michael Bay movie is only just watchable, a weak Darkwing storyline is still fantastic. Still reccomend this to anyone, and I can only pray we will see the character again after November.