By: Mike Carey & Peter Gross (creators), Vince Locke (finishes on Moby Dick sequences), Chris Chuckry (colors), Todd Klein (letters) & Pornsak Pichetshote (editor)
The Story: Many secrets are revealed about how one can move in and out of stories.
What’s Good: Yes! This book really has its mojo back. After a really rough patch from issue ~15-20, it has banged out two really strong issues leading into this one which is the best this series has shown us in about a year.
This title is at its best when it is examining the nature of stories and the concept that a story is almost a living thing that exists on its own. People from our world can influence a story, leave a mark on a story or even peek into the story… But the story is always there. In this issue, the creators begin to examine the cross-pollination between stories in some very cool ways. Trust me….you’ll love it, especially if you’re a well-read person who enjoys picking literary characters out of a title like this one.
We also get a little bit of insight into the creepy old puppeteer lady and her potential motives. She could give people nightmares! The mystery surrounding her and Pullman is way more interesting than the secret society angle that we were treated to during this title’s lull.
Again, the art is top-notch stuff. What is really cool is how the creators brought in Vince Locke to ink the literary sequences. If you’ve ever wondered what inkers do, this would be a great issue to take a look at. It is a great way to both give Gross a bit of a break and also give those pages a unique look and feel.
A final kudo should go to the lettering in this issue. We don’t often talk about lettering, but it can have a big impact when it is done well. It seems like a small thing, but Klein makes good use of bold type to emphasize the parts of the story that merit emphasis and he also pulls a cool trick with a foreign language towards the end of the issue. Conveying emotion or inflection with written text is really hard (as any comic reviewer knows) and Klein does it really well.
What’s Not So Good: A concern I have for this series is that I’m enjoying it more as it has moved away from the central struggle. I LOVE it when we are learning about the rules of this story-world, but I enjoy it less when we have to talk about the evil people pulling at the strings of power. Ultimately, that is going to present a problem for how the series moves forward and I’ll be interested to see how the creators handle that issue.
And, just as last month, I would love some insight as to where we are in the story. When you read a book, you can tell how much story is remaining and the uncertainty about where we are in the story is causing me to enjoy it a little bit less. It shouldn’t be that way, but it is….
Conclusion: A bang-up issue. It is sooooo nice to have this series back to hitting on all cylinders as the creators continue to examine the nature of storytelling.
Grade: A-
-Dean Stell
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