Spread #5
A transitional issue with lacking story but compelling artistic elements.
Writer: Justin Jordan
Artist: Kyle Strahm
Publisher: Image
Spread neither falls apart nor improves in this issue which doesn’t particularly feel like the end or start of any arc despite its nature as a fifth, and transitional, issue.
A lot of threads come together in this issue, by design. Ravello’s men, Hope, No, Molly, Jack’s men, The Spread itself, the preacher and everyone in between are thrown to the mercy of each other in a free-for-all brawl that is both climatic and nonsensical.
Jordan continues his streak of writing interesting characters that unfortunately have cumbersome traits or overbearingly Meta abilities (Looking at you, Hope) up against each other and hopes that by the end of the issue, something compelling comes of it. It both does and doesn’t. No and Ravello are interesting character in and of themselves and, their mostly wordless or unspoken tension is wonderfully done. The action is taut and brutally physical, allowing appropriate force and monologue when necessary. But, it’s also greatly weakened by Hope’s commentary. Specifically, the out-of-character mention of No being a “badass” which feels forced and pandering. We know he’s a badass by design, we don’t need to be told that.
There’s one twist that feels overwhelmingly convenient and requires some series suspension of disbelief. This is for the most part, though, a decent issue telling an average story that combines elements of all the previous issues. It feels transitional, moving out of the setting of the previous issues but remaining true to the comic’s roots and themes: man against nature and man against man.
Strahm’s artistic direction is the unifying theme in this sometimes muddled story. It’s brutal, visceral and dramatic in the best ways. The beasts at hands, and the men fighting them, are terrifying. The Spread itself, a formidable and endlessly entertaining foe. Hope, too has a redeeming close-up that portrays her human affectations more than any issue before this has. It’s well choreographed and entertaining at the very least.
Spread kind of feels like it’s treading water but also has a lot of elements that carry promise. They just need to be used to their true potential. Every issue, this one included, has felt like a set up for the next and it’s not really paying off yet. The enigmatic potential and energy is there, it just needs to be honed.
Writer: Justin Jordan
Artist: Kyle Strahm
Publisher: Image
Spread neither falls apart nor improves in this issue which doesn’t particularly feel like the end or start of any arc despite its nature as a fifth, and transitional, issue.
A lot of threads come together in this issue, by design. Ravello’s men, Hope, No, Molly, Jack’s men, The Spread itself, the preacher and everyone in between are thrown to the mercy of each other in a free-for-all brawl that is both climatic and nonsensical.
Jordan continues his streak of writing interesting characters that unfortunately have cumbersome traits or overbearingly Meta abilities (Looking at you, Hope) up against each other and hopes that by the end of the issue, something compelling comes of it. It both does and doesn’t. No and Ravello are interesting character in and of themselves and, their mostly wordless or unspoken tension is wonderfully done. The action is taut and brutally physical, allowing appropriate force and monologue when necessary. But, it’s also greatly weakened by Hope’s commentary. Specifically, the out-of-character mention of No being a “badass” which feels forced and pandering. We know he’s a badass by design, we don’t need to be told that.
There’s one twist that feels overwhelmingly convenient and requires some series suspension of disbelief. This is for the most part, though, a decent issue telling an average story that combines elements of all the previous issues. It feels transitional, moving out of the setting of the previous issues but remaining true to the comic’s roots and themes: man against nature and man against man.
Strahm’s artistic direction is the unifying theme in this sometimes muddled story. It’s brutal, visceral and dramatic in the best ways. The beasts at hands, and the men fighting them, are terrifying. The Spread itself, a formidable and endlessly entertaining foe. Hope, too has a redeeming close-up that portrays her human affectations more than any issue before this has. It’s well choreographed and entertaining at the very least.
Spread kind of feels like it’s treading water but also has a lot of elements that carry promise. They just need to be used to their true potential. Every issue, this one included, has felt like a set up for the next and it’s not really paying off yet. The enigmatic potential and energy is there, it just needs to be honed.
A Look Inside
