Letter 44 #5

Charles Soule - Writer

Alberto Jimenez Alburquerque - Penciller

Dan Jackson - Colorist

Shawn DePasquale - Letterer

 

If this issue reinforces anything, it’s that Letter 44’s version of the White House is an incredibly dangerous place to be. Many are probably wondering what makes this comic anything less or more than 24 with aliens. The answer is simple, as the pacing is not absurdist humor with a fundamentally flawed premise that houses the typical realistic Homeland Security based television property. This series seems like it is more in line with something like the stellar Ex Machina by Brian K. Vaughan. The story blends the absurd and the realistic in a very careful chess match, in which Letter 44 ultimately ends up being successful. The political aspects and relationships between the different members of the crew contains the drama that drives the book forward. What something such as West Wing can introduce to readers; is the fact that there is a comfortable sense of familiarity that can be achieved when the major players in house are introduced and tied to one central location.

 

For dozens of issues going forward, readers are always going to be curious at what President Blades will explore during his eventful term, and issue #5 is no exception to that rule. Most of the scenes in this comic move the title along very well, the pacing has been notably ramped up in this installment, but not at the point where it could be distracting to the audience or the series. Author Charles Soule is dealing with some drama inside of the White House in a clever manner, that proves astute intelligence of Blades, and makes it obvious why the reader would want to follow his every move. The B storyline with project Monolith actually ends up taking center stage, as a mysterious sign of life is discovered 178,899,876 miles from the Earth’s location. The C storyline involving the FBI has a tease that could really change the course of events revolving Letter 44’s initial future. This is one of the strongest issues of the series to date.

 

While it is unclear if Alberto Jimenez Albuquerque has changed his style since the first issue of this series, everything on the page certainly works very well in this installment. Figures look considerably more cleaned up when comparing them to his previous work. The pencils in Letter 44 have been very controversial, as they seem to have a comic book style that conflicts with what is contained in the narrative, yet there is an undeniable charm to the lighter pencils that has never worked quite this well. Figure work and action by Albuquerque has a definitive improvement here that shows off the artists astute sense of of storytelling. While it may be polarizing towards certain fans of the book, the artist seems like he has done a nice job growing more comfortable chronicling the ongoing adventures of this world which seems much like a strange mirror of our own.

Soule and Albuquerque do a good job hitting the gas in this issue and getting ready to go full speed ahead. The team should be proud of the awe-inspiring work they have put into building this fascinating world. Fans of great comics have no excuse not to give this first couple of issues a close look.