"I am a Friend"
The first thing I must address is thank God the thought bubbles are gone. I was getting scared for a moment. The fact the new kid in town Psionic Lad has a thought bubble as a logo I was thinking DC is taking an old school approach to these books, and I don't like it. It looks like only the few white cover books and or the "March" books had the thought Bubbles.
The major complaint with this series is the jumping around in narrative perspective. This issue is a lot easier to follow then the then and now the last issue dealt with. The last issue left a lot of unanswered questions and some were addressed in this issue, such as the Hunters that followed Psionic Lad and also why he came from the future in the first place.
I want to address the layout. Part of the reason I am proud to say I am a Jeff Lemire fan, likely the longest one on comicvine, is because Jeff Lemire understands visual layouts and their appeal. Not sure if Pier Gallo (the artist) and him gelled until this point. This issue I think is where I really can see the Jeff Lemire visual narration I speak of all the time. My favorite pages where when Psionic Lad uses his powers to enter a mans mind. Pictures speak 1000 words and these pictures do just that. The art is not flawless unfortunately, some of the visual continuity in the fight scene was not as clean as I wish it could be. It was borderline bad and/or cheesy. Not sure who failed in the fight scene, script or art, but the fight was off to me.
The way this issue ends is another Jeff Lemire skill I admire. He can quickly make you change your feeling about a character. Like in Sweet Tooth the first arch we don't like Jepperd, the Second Arch our heart breaks for the man. With all the new characters Jeff Lemire incorporates, one has a quick heel turn and I am really looking forward to seeing where it will go.
This is one of the stronger issues in this young series. The next issue is the Flash race, so I hope you are still along for the ride.
Cheers
- Silkcuts
