By: Richard Starkings (writer, letterer), Tony Parker (art), Blond (colors)
The Story: Plot thickening between some side-characters.
Quick Review: This was one of those issues that Elephantmen gives us as the series transitions between regular artists. With regular artist Alex Medellin off to work on Hoax Hunters (although it looks like he’s not TOTALLY done with Elephantmen), it’s necessary to get some other folks to pick up the slack. So, this issue features the arrival of Tony Parker. Honestly, Parker’s work (as colored by Blond) looks a lot like Medellin and only someone who is looking closely would notice a big difference. Elephantmen is ALWAYS a highly attractive comic book and this issue is no exception.
Where this issue hits a bit of a hiccup for me is with the story. It just seems a little disconnected from the last few issues that dealt with the introduction of Yvette to the “modern-day” Elephantmen universe. Suddenly we’re faced with a story about The Silencer, Panya and Casbah Joe. It isn’t that this story is a mess or is poorly told; it’s more that this issue just doesn’t fit yet with the rest of the series. If I was forced to speculate, Starkings probably collaborated with Parker on this issue not knowing precisely when it would be released, but knowing he’d need an issue in the can to fill in around Medellin’s absence. So, this feels a little like a fill-in issue.
If it is a fill-in issue, it’s a good one, but it still….
Of course, the production qualities are always incredible with Elephantmen. This has always helped the series stay on my pull list when it’s hit rough patches before. Compare to all these junky “self-cover” comics that Marvel is publishing or the 25% or so of Image comics where the printer oversaturates the page and makes it all wavy. Ugh…. I mean, in this increasingly digital age, publishers will need to make the dead-tree verison special: Use nice paper, insist that the printer does a nice job, use good graphic design techniques, consider how colors will look on the printed page…… As I always say, Elephantmen looks like someone “gave a shit” about how it looks. I’d imagine this is the one Image title where the printer tells the employees, “Do a good job on this one, because that Richard Starkings will NOT hesitate to send it back if we screw up.”
Conclusion: Outstanding production values and pretty art, but it still feels a little disjointed from what’s been going on in recent issues.
Grade: B-
– Dean Stell
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Conclusion