By: Brian Churilla (writer, artist, colors) & Ed Brisson (letters)
The Story: Agent Cooper gets closer to discovering the identity of the Soviet agent.
Quick Review: This has been a very pleasing series. Back in issue #1, it started with such weirdness that it was hard not to love. But…..we’ve all seen comics with wacky concepts quickly go off the rails as it becomes clear that there’s no real meat to the tale.
The story in this particular issue loops to an interesting place. The original hook for this series tied strongly into the mythos around cult figure DB Cooper (google it), but then the comic spent the last 3 issues telling a story that had nothing to do with a missing airline passenger. And….that was fine. Never once did the reader think, “WTF? I thought this was supposed to be about what happened to DB Cooper? This doesn’t even have an airplane in it!” In fact, the story has been so strong and Agent Cooper has been such an interesting character, that you tended to stop even thinking that Agent Cooper = DB Cooper. What’s more, Brian Churilla didn’t beat us over the head with the linkage. It isn’t like every issue showed a plane sitting on the tarmac to illustrate that Agent Cooper has a date with destiny.
Then this issue rolls around and the action leads us to the airport. It’s an unexpected surprise when the pieces start to click together.
There is also a very clever plot twist about a Soviet agent in this issue. It’s been hinted all along that Agent Cooper is being stalked in this psychic space by a Soviet agent and we’ve seen a curious red teddy bear who has followed Cooper around. Hmmmm…….red bears??? But, it would be boring if the red bear were the Soviet agent, right? That’s much too straight forward and by the end of the issue, the plot has twisted and turned such that I’m not really sure who is good and who is bad. But, I do want to know more. The only plot element that isn’t quite clicking for me is that of Agent Cooper’s lost child.
The art remains a serious strength of the comic. One advantage to a single creator writing and drawing is that they know when they need word balloons and when they can just tell the story with cartooning. There isn’t a weak panel in this issue and Churilla’s storytelling is very strong, but the thing that sets the comic apart are the little extras while Agent Cooper is in this psychic realm: Not only are the monsters big and icky, but there are gross little details everywhere….eyeballs on plants, toothy mouths on the ground. Great stuff.
Conclusion: A wonderful series keeps chugging along.
Grade: A-
– Dean Stell
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