I’m not sure if this is the same guy who wrote that sci-fi issue I loved so much in my last review, as this one is quite a bit slower than that issue. What happened in here, Kindt?
The script in this issue, and maybe the whole series as I’m new here, is much more mature than with Rai. It’s more focused clearly intended for adult audiences, but I’m not entirely sure about that. There are many scenes that are supposed to feel like the characters here are running for their life, but the result is… somewhat disappointing.
I told myself: “Just keep reading, things are going to improve on the next pages, you know it,” but the improvement was minimal. There was barely a difference between the start and end of this issue, almost like this was just filler. I could feel the characters’ emotions, I could understand them, and I even felt them near to me, but I couldn’t place myself in their world. There was just something that kept me only as a reader and not an observer.
I think much of this could come down to the art being the problem. Hairsine, Winn and Baron gave this comic a raw style that doesn’t match with the pace of the book for me. It features lots of black and dots all around that filled the panels, and these may be my personal issue as I think they slowed the rhythm.
I recognize there was a lot of hard work put in on this, and I’ll freely admit the double page spread where Abram and Myshka run through time is amazing. These guys won a lot of points just with this one, and don’t get me started on the book-graphic-metaphor-stuff, because I fell in love and would marry it if I could, but as for the rest, I can only say that it just missed the mark for me.
But above it all, the one single thing that bothered me the most was the meaningless Latin text generated to fill space on one of the balloons. When I first saw it, I was so excited I opened Google to translate it, and you can easily imagine my face when the English version had no sense to it at all. Couldn’t they make a memorable dialogue for this as they knew people would look it up?
The bonus pages at the end were interesting and something not usually seen in a comic book. I admit I enjoyed reading the penciller’s commentary, but the main crux of the book just seems like a waste, especially for new readers. If you have been following along you may dig this, but if not, the I suggest you wait for the trade.
I think this is for people interested in more adult-like topics, fans of the Preacher could dig this, and readers that are looking for a story more graphic and with strong themes should enjoy it.
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