Larfleeze #4 – Review

by Keith Giffen, J.M. Dematteis (Writers), Scott Kolins (Artist), Mike Atiyeh (Colorist)

The Story: Larfleeze receives the anger of those that were trapped within his ring as Stargrave continues his sad life as being the plaything of things much more powerful than him.

The Review: I can respect a good many things when reading a comic. When I review an issue, I usually try to see the intents that the creative team wants to convey to the readers. Is the point of this issue to advance the story, show a battle of wits between two or more characters? Each scenes have a certain purpose behind them and trying to see what it accomplish is part of the point, as expectations always play a part in the readers appreciation of the whole thing. While I read an issue, I always try to see if the creative team did try something original or if they went ahead and did succeed in setting a consistent tone throughout. Ambition and consistency are two things I can generally be content about when it is achieved.

However, there are always some exceptions to those rule, this time represented by Keith Giffen and J.M. Dematteis on Larfleeze. In this month’s issue, there are many things that works really well, with a consistent humorous tone, plenty of action and some new concepts thrown in. It is even heavily cosmic, which is something that should win me over. However, there are also a good deal of things that, despite all those elements, work against the comic in itself.