As Ellie and her allies draw closer to uncovering the mystery behind the culprit that is murdering creators of the comics industry, more revelations lay bare that will shake up everyone from all spectrums of the comic industry and fictional worlds.
This series continues to be a treat. Just when you think that it couldn’t get any more meta as a title, it just continues to up the ante in ridiculously brilliant ways. Whether it’s references to characters of various publications or other creators within the comics industry, it continues to spur some chuckles for anyone that is a fan of the comics medium. Meta commentary aside, as a story, this issue continues to delve more into the mystery of the killer that is killing comic book creators and the origins of the dome that set the status quo that Ellie, Ryan, and every other person and fictional character resides in.
What makes this consistently enjoyable and why this issue is appealing is due to how the story balances the tightrope of conveying a story that happens to be meta while also being meta due to the material and ideas that it incorporates and tackles. It’s a delight to read a book that garners curiosity, absurdity, and entertainment all at once, which is sometimes difficult to come across and could easily get lost in translation, but thankfully Cates manages to stick the landing. There are some fun little surprises that will leave readers of certain long-term image titles giddy to see where things go next.
Geoff Shaw’s linework and layouts are beautifully brilliant and just works so perfectly with this title. His work has been consistent since the beginning of this series, and coupled with Dee Cunniffe’s colorwork, adds another embellishment to the story that makes it sing. There are some beautiful color choices that really compliment Shaw’s linework, especially on the pages that contrast the comic book world and the real world. John J.Hill does a stellar job with the lettering, carefully placing the speech balloons wherever they seem appropriate and complimenting the art and writing in a balanced way that makes the book a breeze to read without much of a thought.
Verdict: This was another fun installment for this series that was enjoyable to read from start to finish. Seemingly there are some questions that have been answered, and more questions that arise from this issue. That’s part of the fun amongst many things with this title and issue that is worth investment for the following issue. While it isn’t so much action too action-packed, the story carries through which is always important more than anything. I recommend adding this book to your pull list for new comic book day.
Newsdesk