By: Brandon Graham & Simon Roy (story), Roy (art), Richard Ballermann (colors), Ed Brisson (letters)
The Story: John Prophet continues his mission across the future-Earth wasteland with an assassin in hot pursuit.
Review: This was another great issue, but confounding to review. It is very hard to put into words what makes this such an enjoyable reading experience… which is odd, because I review a LOT of comics. It’s really one of those cases where the best thing I can say is, “Try it. You’ll like it.”
But, since this IS a comic review site, I should probably make an attempt to put my love into words (even knowing it won’t do the work justice):
1. Worldbuilding – Beyond the fact that John Prophet has awoken in on some future-Earth that is a wasteland and is dominated by aliens and evolved insects, we really don’t know much. Everything we see in the story is through the eyes of Prophet and he is only letting us tag along. There is never a point in the comic where we cut away from Prophet to see what the insects are up to or anything else that would give the reader additional insight. It is a simple, but powerful narrative technique. Sometimes this pacing where mysteries aren’t revealed can be frustrating, but because Graham isn’t bouncing all over the place with the action, you’re content to let things unfold at their own pace.
2. Stoicism – Nothing deters Prophet. He just keeps plugging away at his “mission”. Only, his mission isn’t ever that clear. Again, the reader isn’t really his companion on the journey; Prophet is just letting us follow him. As he goes forward, things happen and we learn stuff, but Prophet isn’t going to do a lot of inner monologue to explain events. At one point in this issue, he loses an arm, but there isn’t any melodrama where he screams and there aren’t panels of him spurting blood. He is undeterred because he still has a mission. Just this little thing is such a relief compared to some superhero comics where loss of arm can generate an entire spin-off miniseries.
3. Simple text. – I mentioned above how the narrative is simple and linear and the text matches that. In some ways, it reminds me of proof-reading my kid’s essays from school. On one hand, you chuckle because the sentences are short and simple. But, there is a lot of power in short/simple sentence structure (certainly more power than in long, complex sentences with lots of commas). Graham just keeps it moving with these blunt sentences: Bang, bang, bang…
4. Gritty art. – I don’t want to get too attached to Simon Roy because I think the plan is for this series to have rotating artists, but as long as they stay in this style we’ll be good. Roy gives the story a dirty feel that is appropriate for the narrative. There is no showering in this world and Prophet looks like he’d stink to high heaven, not that he’d care an iota. The storytelling is top notch and then there are the splash pages! I typically hate splash pages, but Roy uses them to great effect. They’re never wasted on dramatic scenes of Prophet fighting someone; Roy always uses them to pull back from our tight views of Prophet to show us the landscape around him.
5. Unintentional humor. – One thing that keeps cracking me up is how Prophet is always eating. It isn’t meant to be funny. I’m sure from a story standpoint, eating is just something that Prophet has to do if he wants to complete his mission. But, it’s the way he eats: If Prophet passes a dead animal on the side of the road, he’s going to grab a leg to gnaw on while he keeps walking. Several times every issue, the guy is eating some beast that he’s come upon. I’m not sure why it amuses me so, maybe because we see so little eating in comics?
6. Big twist at the end. – I won’t spoil the ending, but it’s a BIG reveal about Prophet’s mission. It’s the kind of reveal that “changes everything” while still leaving all sorts of room for future storytelling.
There… I feel like I’ve done a mediocre job again of describing why this comic is so enjoyable. Maybe it’s one of those things you just need to experience for yourself.
Conclusion: Another great issue. Even if I have a hard time describing it, I don’t have any qualms about recommending it.
Grade: A-
-Dean Stell
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