Pigs #5 – Review

By: Nate Cosby & Ben McCool (writers), Breno Tamura (artist), Kevin Colden & Jordie Bellaire (colors), Rus Wooton (letters)

The Story: A bunch of Cuban-born agents are trying to break into a prison to kill someone.

Three Things: 

1. I feel like I missed an issue! – This isn’t necessarily the writers’ fault.  I’m pushing 40, read a lot of comics and have a bajillion things going on in my life.  So I DO lose the plot thread of comics sometimes and it isn’t the writers’ fault.  That being said, I’m kinda lost and I’m sure I’m not the only one.  Here’s what I know about the series [SPOILERS]: The President’s arm gets cut off at some point and last issue these Cuban agents were killing a Congressman and his mistress.  So, I don’t understand why – in this issue – they’re trying to break into a prison to kill an inmate.  What does this have to do with the plot?  And there’s this Nazi inmate who seems important, but I don’t think I’ve seen him before.  When I harp on this kinda thing, there is always someone who pops up to give the answers in the comment thread and I’m not debating whether some people can keep track of the plot, but the writers need to do a better job of recapping the action if they want to sell this as a single issue comic.  I’m sure it’ll read better in collected form, but if you’re selling it to me as a single issue I must review it as a single issue.

2. I want to know about the severed arm, dammit! – This is mostly an issue with pacing of the series.  The first issue had that awesome reveal on the final page where we learned that somehow these Cuban agents had chopped off the arm of the US President.  That’s the mystery I want answers to.  I don’t really care about how some of the agents are more committed to the cause than others or any of their personal dynamics.  Further, I don’t see how this story is leading us toward the President.

Strange Adventures – Review

By: Various (see below)

The Story: A Vertigo anthology with a sci-fi bent.

[Note: The regular “what’s good”/”what’s not so good” format doesn’t work so well for an anthology like this.  Don’t worry, it’ll return…]

Case 21: (Selwyn Hinds, writer & Denys Cowan, art) A very clever story dealing with a dystopian future police state where a tattoo artist is forced to make some pretty harsh decisions.  It’s well written and has some nice dynamic artwork, including a topless lady getting into a fight with the jackbooted cops.  Cool twist at the end too.  I’d definitely be in favor of seeing more of this story.

The White Room:  (Talia Hershewe, writer & Juan Bobillo, art)  I didn’t love this story as much.  It is set in the future and deals with a couple of punk-kids’ experience with a type of virtual reality/drug called The White Room.  Misadventures in virtual realities or hallucinogenic trips just aren’t my bag, so my lack of enjoyment is 100% due to the subject matter.  Bobillo’s painted and pinkish-tinged art is very visually appealing.

Partners: (Peter Milligan, writer & Sylvain Savoia, art)  This story didn’t really scratch my itch either although I think there is a clever premise within it.  The problem is that the cool twist is revealed a little too soon in the story and that robs it of some of its juice.  For some reason, the artwork reminds me of Charles Burns, but I’m not sure why.  Perhaps it’s because the subject matter is kids with identity crises sitting around a campfire?

All the Pretty Ponies: (Lauren Beukes, writer & Inaki Miranda, art)  This was one of the stars of the issue for me.  What starts out as a Surrogates-type story where rich people are paying money to inhabit and take virtual/remote control of a bunch of poor folks has a very wicked twist.  Great art by Miranda too.  This is another I’d like to see more of.

Ultra the Multi-Alien: (Jeff Lemire, writer and art)  Is it any surprise that Jeff Lemire would give us a heart-wrenching and plaintive tale?  The art is typical Lemire, emotive and stylized, and will be immediately familiar to any fan of Sweet Tooth or Essex County.  The subject matter hits the same types of notes as those other works too.  I don’t want to spoil the twist, but the story deals with an astronaut who is far from home in more ways than one.  More please!

Refuse: (Ross Campbell, writer and art) This story wins the award for the grossest, holy crap moment of the issue.  I really liked Ross’ willingness to show such a nasty looking story and anyone who is willing to draw that has got some real potential.  But, I didn’t really understand the purpose of the story and why this mother is living in such a filthy apartment that her child has been taken away by social services.