7/22/15

FABLES #150/Volume 22: FAREWELL — Faithful Readers will recall me expressing concern while reading the previous nine singles while under the increasingly strong impression that there was going to be A Whole Hell Of A Lot to resolve in this final issue. Well, Willingham and the gang were certainly of the same opinion. As it turns out, while I thought I was reading the final volume, 21, a story taking place in ten in serial installments (as has been my wont, lo these past thirteen years), it turns out that that was a penultimate deal leading up to this massive final 150-pages-all-in-one-blast that just dropped on us like a bomb out of Prince Charming’s airship (I think? Wasn’t there some sort of airship? Um, I didn’t make the intended massive reread, as it turns out). This was the only way they could escalate from #100, I suppose. And you certainly see why they pulled the plug before #200! This was getting out of hand. The first half (I didn’t count, but roughly four issues’ worth of pages) is a twelve-chapter finale that brings the main tale to a close with stunning art throughout by the regular team of Buckingham/Leialoha/Pepoy and of course Letter Emeritus Todd Klein crafting Willingham’s words just so. This is followed by an all-star murderer’s row of guest artists who continue last arc’s tradition of THE LAST _______ STORY. Of course, as one might expect (or has been taught via last arc), few of these are actually happily-ever-after type resolutions and often very eyebrow-raising endings that are much more like cliffhanger beginnings just as we are dragged away from What Happens Next by the inevitable turn of the page. This is probably never more the case than with Pinocchio & Geppetto. I mean, REALLY?!? That is some grand business, right there. I will say, that for all the ramp-up that’s been accelerating for the previous nine issues and then for the first third of monster final installment, the ending to the main story feels a bit too tidy. SPOILERS going forward. It’s not that I wanted the fields to run red with the blood of Snow & Bigby’s cubs or anything, but this was a loooooooooot of set-up for Rose to have some random talk with a random soldier the night before The Big Last Battle (I’m not missing something, right? The point was that she was talking to a nobody, right?) and then realize that, oh, she has nephews so the curse is broken and everything is actually all right as long as she goes away forever. The point of this wasn’t to be a monster anti-climax, right? Without all of the gorgeous art, when you’re not under the spell of the tale and what not but just put it in text like that, it sounds kind of stupid, right? This series has done so many things right for so long, it’s earned more than enough credit with at least me that I’m not like pissed about the ending, but it certainly could have used a bit more Ooomph!, it seems like. I will certainly miss picking this up every month. It’s been an unbroken constant in my entertainment consumption for longer than anything else, and I am so grateful to the creators for taking us along for such a magnificent ride.

ALL-NEW HAWKEYE #004 — Well, I don’t know if this issue suddenly stepped it up and coalesced in the way that this series hasn’t quite yet managed for me or maybe if after last week, I don’t feel like I’m cheating on Fraction/Aja/Hollingsworth anymore or what, but I loved the hell out of this one wholly and unreservedly. It probably doesn’t hurt that the top three-fourths are the boyhood flashbacks, less of an excellent cover version building on what’s gone before and more of Lemire/Pérez/Herring’s own thing. There’s some cool old-school Alan-Moore-style juxtaposition between past and present here, a trick that usually feels played out by, oh, thirty years but works for me here. For example, something like young Clint hollering about a fight before the next panel cuts to the aftermath of the hallway battle in Bed-Stuy. And of course Swordsman has got some near-jailbait on the side for young Clint to fall in love with. This one is just roaring up right now, but it’s already a worthy successor to what’s gone before, as unlikely as it seemed that anything ever would, could, or should be.

OLD MAN LOGAN #003 — Ha, I love how every single SNIKT! in this book is like the biggest deal ever. Nice carry-over from Millar/McNiven’s original arc. That’s almost funny enough, but then they go ahead and make the killing-stroke sound effect CHUCK! Comedy gold, Bendis. I’ve already made note of it, but I really do dig the idea of just catapulting this character over the wall into the Age of Apocalypse. That’s not really going to upset anybody reading this thing. It’s always nice to check in with a Boom-Boom from any reality. It’s a shame we couldn’t stay longer, but then this guy as our tour guide over the walls into various domains has its own appeal. You’ve got to love Baron Stark trying to talk the old man out of his adamantium in like his third panel of consciousness. But we don’t even stay in Techonopolis for the cliffhanger. Sorrentino/Maiolo continue to provide beautiful pages throughout.

UNCANNY X-MEN #035 — I really never saw it coming, but of nowhere, Goldballs kind of became the breakout character, didn’t he? Poink is the new Thwip, indeed. How far we’ve come, though, with the Stepford Cuckoos not only having seniority but actually pulling rank as de facto leaders. Schiti/Isanove deliver more-than-competent fill-in art while Bendis boomerangs what might have been more of a tangent if he’d stayed longer right back around to home plate as we ramp up for UNCANNY X-MEN #600 in a few months. Though, I could swear that #034 of this ended with a TO BE CONTINUED IN UNCANNY X-MEN #600 as well, so maybe that’s just going to keep happening for a while still.

GRAYSON #10 — I am still loving how this book just completely flipped its status quo inside the first twelve issues. Terrific fun. And that’s before this issue’s Special Surprise Guest Star showed up, a reveal that was handled perfectly, followed by a terrific bit of verbal sparring. I’m also a fan of our Birdwatcher’s desperate one-way updates with Mister Malone. That is a wonderful conceit that I could stand to see last for years. Other than the fact that I miss the one true Batman so much. Bruce! I was a bit confused by that jump on the last page, but I’m pretty sure that was the point. This remains one of the very best books that DC puts out. Good on Seeley/King/Janin/Cox!