We’re Taking Everyone Down With Us
Dante Alderman is also known as The Vitruvian, a member of La Coterie de Sept, an organization that finds its plans for world domination at odds with those of V.E.I.L. As Dante explains it to his daughter, Annalise, V.E.I.L. exists to keep brilliant minds like his down in the name of maintaining the status quo. Which is why, after he’s finally been tracked down, the organization’s top man, Alistair Rook, leads an all-out assault on Dante’s secret island base. An ultimately successful operation that only Annalise and one of her father’s mandroids are able to walk away from. The two of them may not have many resources to work with, but Annalise is going to make sure that V.E.I.L. lives to regret what they’ve done and god help anyone who gets in her way.
Matthew Rosenberg is a writer who I really want to like but doesn’t consistently deliver the goods every time. For every success like his breakout “4 Kids Walk Into a Bank” and “What’s the Furthest Place From Here?” (which I sure hope is completed one day), there’s either a straight-up misfire like his “Wild C.A.T.s” or something that didn’t live up to its potential like “The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing.” “We’re Taking Everyone Down With Us” certainly seemed like it had the potential to be the former what with its revisionist take on the Connery-era “Bond” formula combined with the writer’s own modern wiseass sensibilities.
And you know what? For most of this volume that actually kinda works. Rosenberg clearly has fun with poking at some of the genre’s more ridiculous aspects, but that’s done with more affection than outright derision. Annalise also makes for a great protagonist as her withering condescension to those around her is both recognizably childlike and a lot of fun to behold – as are her plot-relevant S-tier combat skills. The rest of the cast is also a lot of fun to see in action, mostly as a result of their cartoonishly self-absorbed natures. Yet, they still come off as recognizably human when it counts; yes, even Rook whose introduction makes it clear that he’s meant to embody the hedonism of old-school “Bond” with the smirking charm and good looks of Burt Reynolds.
The problem with all this is that it doesn’t come off quite as fun as it means to be. Part of that feels like it’s down to the pacing as these are six longer-than-usual issues collected here. While that allowed the first volume of “What’s The Furthest Place From Here?” to luxuriate in added worldbuilding and character details, this world isn’t as interesting as that one. The other issue is with Stefano Landini’s art, even though he’s clearly game for all of the formalistic challenges that Rosenberg throws at him. It’s just that his art doesn’t have the same swingin’ stylistic vibe of the era or characters that only emote enough to sell the most important bits of the plot. The muted color palette doesn’t help things either.
Though this first volume ends on a fairly self-contained note, it definitely leaves the door open for future stories in this universe. In fact, we’re told that one of the key players from this story will return “In Good Hands With Bad Company.” I enjoyed what we got here well enough to check that out when it arrives, even though I don’t think I’ll have any trouble mustering the patience for it. That’s because while I’ll be looking forward to seeing more of what I liked in “We’re Taking Everyone Down With Us” in that, I’ll also be wanting to see if Rosenberg and Landini can shore up any of the issues I had with it as well.