Lookin At That Cover I'd Say He Has Some Overdue Books
The Good: Ryan Sook delivers another compelling cover. It's not as surreal as the previous one, but it has a great sense of design, and the juxtaposition of Deadman sitting unaware reading his book with the incredibly psychotic librarian ready to strike behind him just sends chills down my spine.
The artwork is still a good kind of cartoony. A werid almost more realistic kind of cartoony that makes things serious in a good way without being too serious to deny the comedy.
And the comedy again is great. It's not QUITE as amazing as last issue, but it also didn't quite need to be. Last issue's comedy was REALLY funny, I never expected this one to stack up exactly as well. It's also delivered in a similar style, an excellent use of Deadman's monologues.
The Librarian is such a great character. And she works so well as a one-off character. She's a cranky cranky old woman. And she delivers some excellent exposition, leading Deadman to the next step on his journey. A step that's all sorts of intriguing.
The gambit Deadman begins is pretty interesting, and adds a layer of tension to the story.
The last page gets me really excited for the next issue.
The Bad: As awesome as the cover is, I don't feel its that fitting. The Librarian was subdued by the time the issue began, and she never got out. It might've worked better as the cover to the previous issue.
I feel like there's kind of a jump between the last issue and this one. The Librarian was giving begrudgingly assistance, and this issue she's tied up and practically frothing with anger. Something just seems off between issues.
If Deadman is trying to fight back against Rama, why did he go back to the wheelchair guy? It makes no sense. He has no reason to go back to him. He left him off in a great place, hitting it off well with an attractive woman. I mean, it doesn't seem like Deadman ruined it, but at the same time it seemed like he took the reward of pleasure for himself. It came off as pretty selfish, and again, unessecary and confusing.
Don't get me wrong, the flashback Deadman goes into is incredibly deep, emotional, and touching; but it's kind of awkwardly shoved in. It doesn't seem to have a purpose to the issue, and the lead-in to it feels kind of forced.
In Conclusion: 4/5
Its still a very well put together issue, although it suffers a little from being the 'middle' issue. The story feels like its in a bit of a lull, but its an expected one. We get a lot of things set up for the last 2 issues of this arc, so we don't get as much actually happening as last issue. That said, the overall this is still an excellent issue, and has me pumped up about the finale.
