By: Chris Roberson (writer), Jim Rugg (art), Laura Allred (colors), Todd Klein (letters), Gregory Lockard (assistant editor) & Shelly Bond (editor)
The Story: A background for Agent Kennedy of the Dead Presidents.
Review: This is an issue that suffers a little bit because of the news that the series is ending at issue #28. We have a lot of plot threads that need to be resolved and (honestly) the background of Agent Kennedy wasn’t in the top 10. Issues like this that focus heavily on the background of one particular character work very nicely in long running series. We saw a lot of these issues over the 72 issues of DMZ and they added richness to the various characters, but I’m not sure this was the story that I Zombie needs here at the finish line. It would be like Scalped having an issue that focused on Office Falls Down’s childhood in the middle of this final story arc: Nice, but not necessary. Moves like this make one wonder if the series is naturally ending or if someone just decided to pull the plug? It doesn’t seem like this is the issue the creators would have put out there if they always intended for the series to end so soon.
Macro issues aside, this is a pretty well-done issue. The biggest problem with I Zombie month-to-month is juggling its expansive cast of characters, so it’s no surprise that an issue focusing on the backstory of ONE character is a very calm and collected experience. The Agent Kennedy character has been a cool addition since she started to appear in the series a year or so ago. She’s had that neat mix of cool dialog and smart character design that makes the reader want to know more about her. What we learn about her in this issue gives her a little more depth as a character and also shows that she’s not new to fighting this ancient evil that is plaguing the ongoing story of the series. We also get a cool tease for next month’s issue…
Seeing Jim Rugg as guest artist was a super treat. We just don’t get to see enough of this guy’s work! Again, I’m speechless at how Vertigo can get artists like Rugg to do a fill-in issue, yet some large publishers continue to trot out C-listers for the same purpose. With a Vertigo title, it’s almost a treat when a guest artist shows up because you’re getting art from someone of the caliber of Jim Rugg, Danijel Zezelj, Jordi Bernet, etc. Rugg is such a versatile artist and in this issue he keeps it very clean and straight-forward with the story-telling taking top priority. The recently Eisner-nominated Laura Allred does a wonderful job with the colors. Flat colors just have so much more POP to them, especially when they are as well chosen as these colors are.
Conclusion: A nifty little issue. I’m not sure it was what the series really needed with only a handful of issues left, but it is what it is…
Grade: B
-Dean Stell
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