Fairest #12 – Review

By: Lauren Beukes (story), Inaki Miranda (art), Eva De La Cruz (colors)

The Story: Can a fox outfox a wolf and a witch?

The Review: Call this a critic’s existential crisis, but I often wonder if at the end of the day, my reviews have any sway at all.  I mean, I can’t even sway my two-year-old niece to stop dancing while I’m trying to put her pants back on her.  I can’t sway my friend to stop falling for girls who call him “Idiot” within a week of the relationship.  So what hope do I have of reaching out to strangers on the internet, rather yet the powers that be in the business?

But if I do have any influence in the comic book world, I’d use a lot of it to get Beukes an ongoing title from DC or Vertigo, ASAP.  I’ve noticed a lot of writers can’t hit the proper tension at different parts of their stories, either going too big too early and fizzling out, or sticking to a slow burn for too long then throwing in a whole lot of flash and bang at the last second.  Beukes hits exactly the right note for her penultimate issue; you can actually feel the action rising to a climax, with the various characters drawing closer together, setting the stage for the final blowout next month.  You can tell it’s all going exactly according to Beukes’ plan.