It’s Big Barda and Scott Free versus the Female Furies in Female Furies #5, by writer Cecil Castellucci, artist Adriana Melo, colors by HI-FI, and letterer Sal Cipriano. There’s a lot to unpack in this issue, but it’s so well paced that it never starts to drag.

The Furies get to Earth and begin their search for Barda. Barda, however, has already found Scott and with his help, finds the tracker they put on her. The Furies follow the tracker and are still able to find Barda. The Furies and Barda battle, but Barda, with Scott’s help, is a match for them. They call a draw and Barda explains to them how what happened to Aurelie changed her and made her see that the same things had happened to her and to the rest of the Furies. They agree to go back to Apokolips and take revenge on Willik. Barda pretends to have killed Scott and eventually, the Furies capture Willik and strap him to a black hole machine that will tear him apart for eternity. This act of revenge, though, is only the beginning of the Furies’ plan.

First off, as already mentioned, the pacing of this issue is excellent. A lot is going in this one, and it all has the room it needs to breath. The Furies’ reactions to Earth are pretty funny, adding a bit of humor to a book that hasn’t had much. The fight between the Furies and Barda goes to show just how good Barda really is, but also how good the Furies are. They know each other and the way they fight so well that it would always end in a draw. Barda’s speech to the Furies on why she left fits into Castellucci’s overall narrative of women being abused by men, and it’s compelling.

As a corollary, Willik’s excuses are super stereotypical and a little cliche. They weren’t really needed, and kind of drag the character back a little. He should have defiant and abusive to the last, but his groveling and the banality of his excuses take away from the scene. Granny Goodness and her scheming continue. She thinks the Furies’ execution of Willik will allow her to take his place, but Darkseid and his inner circle know about it as well and give Willik’s position to a man. Again, this doesn’t really feel needed at this point. If readers don’t get that the inner circle of Apokolips is chauvinistic by now, then they haven’t been paying attention.

Adriana Melo’s art is stellar as always. Her action scenes are precise and well choreographed. Her character acting top notch. She captures the emotions of the character so well, making Castellucci’s dialogue come alive. The last page, with Willik being given his just desserts and the Furies looking on is beautiful.

Female Furies #5 is a great issue, but it isn’t perfect. The Furies’ reaction to Earth is humorous, the fight scene is exciting, and Barda’s speech is heartfelt and powerful. However, Willik’s groveling and the added chauvinism of the Apokolips inner circle feels tacked on to make the bad guys look worse, but that really isn’t needed at this point. Adriana Melo’s art is still top notch and continues to impress. It will be cool to see what the Furies’ scheme entails next issue, and this issue sets it up rather well.

Grade: B