Crosswind #5

Writer: Gail Simone

Artist: Cat Staggs

Letterer: Simon Bowland

We've been getting a decent amount of story these past four issues; Juniper and Cason at this point have accepted their situation and have begun to play the part of their new host. In addition to this deep character work, the last issue added an extra layer to the characters, which frames their stories against those of transgender people. I'm sure transgender readers or more aware readers would have picked up on it quicker than I have, but it blew me away and made the story even more important and layered. I feel like I have to remind myself of all this because I'll say this was the weakest issue of the series yet, but not for the wrong reasons.

Gail Simone and Cat Staggs have to hammer home the fact that Cruz, Cason's colleague of sorts, is after Cason for dating his girlfriend. He's a psychopath through and through, but the team use too much page space for an action scene that didn't feel entirely necessary to me. Some of the panel layouts and panel progression also confused me, as Staggs progresses this action scene to a phone call which made think I missed a few panels, when in fact I didn't. This whole seven or so page sequence disappointed me, which is made even worse since other more interesting storylines were intercut with this sequence, such as Cason taking Juniper's kid to school and giving him a little pep talk before he goes in. Those are the moments I personally latched onto more, because I liked watching the characters interact.

Without spoiling anything, we begin to understand a lot more about how exactly Cason and Juniper switched bodies, and it's not terribly interesting. In fact, I would've preferred it being left to the imagination, because it's frankly quite ridiculous. The story didn't need this deep of a cut into history or fantasy in order to excuse its premise; the strength of the characters sold it for me.

This is the weakest issue of the series, but it's still quite good. The final few pages will make anybody want to pump their fists in the air and scream in triumph, but the early focus on Cruz's menace as well as the magic behind the story fell flat for me.