Jim Starlin has kept me anxious for each new issue in this 8 part series. After reading #7, I was so sad to think that the next issue would be the last of the run. I didn't even mind that the ongoing tease that Bizarro would party with Adam Strange and co. still hadn't happened 7/8th of the way in. That said, issue 8 had a lot riding on it for me and needed to be insanely good. I honestly could not image what could happen in issue 8 that could pay off. So, did it pay off? Well, in one important sense, yes. But in a very backhanded way and in the company of a lot disappointment. This series was so great because it is, simply, pulp. While someone like Geoff Johns masterfully navigates both the worlds of complex psychological comics circa now and the world of golden age moral comics, this series is almost just plain golden age. Enough story and character though to keep it interesting and ultimately very fun. It would be hard for me to recommend this series to a non-comic book fan. But if you love comics, this series is a must even with what I have to say about it's conclusion.
Some stories rely on a big shocking ending. Stange Adventures is hardly a shocking tale though. So why its climax center's around Eye committing suicide/ultimate self-sacrifice I can only chock up to desperation. Of course, as the name of this blog suggests, death in comics is hardly eternal anyway, so it makes this move even more of a yawn to me. Issue 7's climax, centered around some incredible writing where a ton of completely disparate characters are made to agree with each other in a cosmic argument was far more amazing. Which I know sounds horribly dull, but the whole point of this blog is that story comes first in good comics. So argue away heros! Save the fighting for someone more boring!
Anyway, one of the big payoffs I was hoping for was what goes down between Bizarro and the other characters when they finally meet. A really enticing move is that Bizarro is given intelligence at the beginning of issue 8. Similar tactics have proven really compelling with Solomon Grundy, so I was hoping for a lot. But ultimately, there was almost no interaction still. Bizarro was left intelligent though, so hopefully future appearances in other comics will be amazing?
The one thing that I am stoked about is that this story actually has no resolve. It is essentially a big "to be continued" and since most of these characters now move on to being in the R.E.B.E.L.S. series (which I know little about), my wish for this story not to end has been granted. There is also a direct reference to what is going on in the Blackest Night story line. A sort of awkward reference, but one that puts dreams of these very sunshine sci-fi heroes entering a very modern horror story into my head. I like those dreams.
No comments:
Post a Comment