You Cannot Be Perfect Until You Have Been Imperfect
Wow. I was REALLY afraid that this arc had hit its climax too early last issue, but this one manages to provide an equally epic scene for the finale without feeling too similar. It's a much quieter climax, but the deep metaphysical tone resonates just as deeply, if not stronger. Deadman stares a goddess in the face, and tells her that she isn't perfect because she's perfect. Its as simple as that.
The panel layouts take a turn for the bizarre in an eerily subtle way. They're nothing like J.H. Willaims or Marco Rudy would do. In fact, hardly any of the panels are something other than a rectangular shape. But there's a ton of moments where little panels pop up in odd places in a crazy patchwork kind of way, blipping close shots at us at a glance. It's impressively subtle and unique.
But ultimately, and this might just be a personal thing, I was bothered by the excessive focus on Johnny Foster, the man in the wheelchair. I can understand why, and I know there are people who will disagree with me on this. In fact, anyone who disagrees with me about this, I will not say they are wrong. This is something entirely subjective. It was my feeling that this was an arc about Deadman, an arc that dug deep an defined him. 'If Deadman could only get one arc' kind of thing. It felt like that for the most part, except that they kept dragging us back to this guy in a wheel chair. To me, it made things feel like this was just another arc of Deadman as if it was an ongoing, instead of a full tale in one standalone arc. Because aside from Johnny, this arc was exactly about how it wasn't about the people Deadman helped, it was about Deadman. Johnny was just a plot device. Except he was his own side plotline, and I never really enjoyed that idea. This issue especially dedicated a huge chunk to wrapping up Johnny's story, AFTER wrapping up Deadman's story. It was just a little awkward imo.
In Conclusion: 4/5
What else can I say? This was an incredible 5 issue metaphysical experience like no other. And it had plenty of comedy along the way. And it gave the spotlight to an under appreciated DC hero as I hope this series continues to do. But if you're not into the whole philosophical stuff, DON'T YOU DARE GIVE UP ON THIS SERIES. The next arc is something completely new from a completely different creative team. Just make sure you know that that's how this works. You are actually encouraged to jump in at any arc, because each arc is only connected to the others by being set in the same DC Universe. That is it.
