Crosswind #6

Writer: Gail Simone

Artist: Cat Staggs

Letterer: Simon Bowland

The first arc of this series is now over, and I must say that Gail Simone and Cat Staggs closed it out with one of the best issues of the series yet. The action in this issue is the most tense and meaningful it's been so far, and the underlying social theme of transgenderism feel a lot more natural when Simone touches on them now.

Simone and Staggs really have it down with their characters, Cason and Juniper. The situation that they find themselves in wouldn't work without two characters that the reader can get a good read on and their development and growth over these past six issues has been great. They're some of my favourite characters of the past year.

The storyline involving the wizard that was introduced last issue admittedly had me worried over the direction this issue was going to go in, but Simone wisely reels it in and keeps the whole final encounter grounded between all the characters instead of a huge gunfight with countless bullets flying all around the place. In tackling transgenderism, this is the best way to play it; despite the fact that people do indeed get killed in this issue, there's a sense of progressivism coming out on top over more backward-thinking people and I loved that about this series.

Staggs art is pretty fantastic. I'd love to see more of her work before CROSSWIND comes back, because I think she's a great talent. Her work is very expressive and her use of motion works very well. I'd love to see some wordless pages in the trade just so you can follow the story without the dialogue.

Simone and Staggs conclude the first arc of their series in a very satisfying manner. I'm not sure exactly where the characters can go from here as I like where they end up by the final page, but I trust the team to do some great things with these characters in the future.