Farewell Philip Tan
The Good: The cover is pretty awesome, but it's Philip Tan, so that practically goes without saying. But I do really like this one.
Whooo! Philip Tan is back on the art for this issue and I am glad. Freight Train's fight with The Shaggy Man is completely insane, and I don' think anybody else could've pull it off quite so amazingly.
We find out Looker's real reason for coming to Markovia. They suggest it was stated in #29, but upon re-reading it I can say it was only just barely implied, and even finding that took putting 2 and 3 together.
Some interesting troubles are brewing in the Markovia team.
We finally find out Freight Train's origins and the true nature of his powers. I like the definition of what they are, it makes clear sense given his previous fights, and the fact that his origin draws back to some older event was kind of interesting.
The Canada Outsiders team really pull together as a team and work in unison. They're a great counterpart to the collapsing Markovia team.
The ending is beautifully tragic, and Freight Train lampshades the whole thing with a joke, that ends up being a bit of dark comedy that only makes the mood darker.
The Bad: The pacing in this issue isn't the best. Freight Train never completely explains how he went from 'gun for hire' to 'hero' or how far that transformation goes.
Last issue Katana was preparing to leave to find Geo-Force. This issue she's stopping Looker from leaving. What happened in between?
Where are Eradicator and The Olympian? What happened to the conclusion of that whole business in the war?
The disappointing realization that Philip Tan is gone after this issue. (Except for the covers.)
Looker tells Katana she has personal reasons for being in Markovia and an editor's note says she's hunting the vampire who turned her, and to recall issue #29 for details. The thing is, I had to use some wild leaps of logic to come to that conclusion.She offhandedly mentions the idea that killing the vampire who killed you frees you while she was fighting Stake, but made no mention of the vampire who turned her or where he was. She DID however see a news report about Markovia earlier in the chapter, and since she made it clear she knew the Outsiders in Road Home, logic dictated that she would know Geo-Force ruled Markovia. This all could've been simpler if maybe Looker had mentioned that was the reason when she was arguing with Katana. Or something. But giving us key information in the form of an editor's note telling us to refer to a previous issue that barely tells us that? Weak.
In Conclusion: 3.5/5
Don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved reading this issue. The backstory of Freight Train was great, and his fight with The Shaggy Man was beyond superb. This issue just suffers from a few glaring pacing flaws, but the emotional ending almost cancels them out.