Heavy Vinyl #4

Written by: Carly Usdin

Pencils by: Nina Vakueva

Inks by: Irene Flores

Colors by: Rebecca Nalty w/ Kieran Quigley & Walter Baiamonte

Published by: BOOM! Box

You might be wondering, what is Heavy Vinyl and where did this comic come from with an issue number 4? Well, Hi-Fi Fight Club published by BOOM! Box has changed its name with the final issue of what seems to be its inaugural mini-series. And the way comic books keep getting snatched up to be movies and TV shows these days, Carly Usdin probably did the sensible thing changing the name of the series to avoid any potential legal troubles down the line.

Saying all that, how was this issue of the newly minted Heavy Vinyl? It was good, but came off a little anti-climactic in the end. After crafting a pretty intriguing mystery within the first three issues of the series, this final issue was less a conclusion and more as a stepping stone for the next series - which is good in one way, but not so good in other ways.

What is good is very simple: the series is a great read every month and the characters are fun, diverse and you want to know more about them. So the promise of future issues is a welcome one.

They also, weirdly, solve the mystery of the missing singer of Stegosour and what has been happening to all the bands that keep disappearing. In that vein, you get an ending. However, how it is handled in the issue itself felt very rushed and more of a “tell, don’t show” moment.  

This leads to the not so good of the issue. The issue felt incredibly rushed and slow-paced all at the same time. The conclusion of the mystery? Handled in a few panels. To get to that conclusion? Roughly half the issue of overt exposition to get to know the characters even more. While this is good for the future of the series (or subsequent mini-series), as a final issue of a four issue mini-series? It comes off a little weak. This is the type of exposition that should have been done at the very latest in the third issue.

In all, Heavy Vinyl has been a fun mini-series that has suffered from a few missteps, but that I would gladly recommend to anyone looking for something different in their comic pull list. I have a feeling that this mini will read much better as a trade paperback (like so many other series these days).