Harvest #5

The final confrontation between Ben Dane & Jason Craven is about to go down and with the life of one C.E.O. hanging in the balance, will Ben have the upper hand? The conclusion to Image’s captivating medical thriller mini series.

The Medical Staff

Written by A.J. Lieberman (Term Life GN, Cowboy Ninja Viking : Vol. 1) & illustrated by Colin Lorimer. Harvest created by A.J. Lieberman & Colin Lorimer. Published by Image Comics #5 (of 5).

The Side Effects

This issue wraps up this exciting mini series and it does it well. It evens leaves itself wide open for a sequel, which shouldn’t surprise anyone at all. Ex surgeon Ben Dane, imperfect as he is and with the assistance of Mariko, battles fatigue, drug addiction, alcoholism, hallucinations and a ruined career, manages to stay one step ahead of the game throughout all five issues. The way that Ben manages to beat Jason Craven is very clever, but not out of character for such a disturbed individual is the pinnacle of this final issue. His career as a professional surgeon is pretty much done, but he could potentially be a pro at poker.

Colin Lorimer’s illustrations gave this dark mini series the right tone for the ugly underworld of the black market of organ transplants & criminal enterprises. Lots of moody green panels & bloody splashes of red made me sick to my stomach (but in a good way). One drawing in particular gave me the creeps, an unsuspecting “patient” had the retinas from her eyes removed and then stitched shut like some crazy voodoo doll or shrunken head. To top it all off, put all the covers together and you have a nice wide illustration of a glimpse into the twisted world of Harvest. Wish I had a poster of that.

The Prognosis

I love this mini series. It started with a bang, dropped a little bit towards the middle, but came back full throttle in the end. As your doctor I recommend five doses of all five issues of Harvest or wait for a full overdose and get the TPB (that’s the last of my medical\surgical innuendos & puns I swear). This issue gets an 8 and the entire mini series gets a 9.