Writer: Jeff Mariotte
Pencils: Francesco Francavilla
Colors: Wes Hartman
Letters: Johnny Lowe
Assistant Editor: Kristy Quinn
Editor: Shannon Eric Denton
Cover: Francesco Francavilla
(No Spoilers)
Alright, we got a little more with this issue than last. There wasn’t a single explosion in this issue but there was a great hand-to-hand fight at the beginning. But thankfully fighting is not all we get in this issue as we finally get some revelation here.
When I started reading the issue and the fight began to run long I was afraid we wouldn’t have room for much else. Don’t get me wrong, it was an awesome fight but this series has been leaning more towards action than story since the beginning so while I was expecting it, I was also hoping for a little more substance too. Francavilla continues to deliver some awesome fights and is still finding new and interesting ways for Garrison to finish people off. Then afterwards we get a pretty funny scene of Garrison and Agent Bracewell in a plane that I thought was amusing but again I thought we were running out of comic too quick to fit in more story.
Thankfully, by the last third of the issue we finally get an answer to the origin of Garrison. It’s not really an original origin and it’s kind of what I anticipated all along but it’s passable. It makes sense with certain real world concerns but as far as comics are concerned, it’s not an idea we haven’t seen before. And I don’t mind revisiting old ideas but I do like them to have some sort of cool new spin on them (see Ides of Blood).
I’ve already talked at length about the comparisons to a summer blockbuster movie and you could almost keep a checklist of the cliché’s here. This includes the one we get at the very end of the book which I could see coming a mile away. Again, not necessarily a bad thing but it does kind of take the suspense out of the story.
I am still enjoying this comic but I was kind of hoping they’d try something new with the story. I anticipate next issue we’ll get at least one more good fight and probably a happy ending but regardless I’m still interested enough to see how it all ends. I just wish Mariotte had taken more chances with this story.
6 out of 10 (Slightly above average)