[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writer: Warren Ellis
Artists: Jon Davis-Hunt
Colors: Brian Buccellato
Letters: Simon Bowland
Summary
Angie Spica discovers that she can connect herself to the Internet and makes a new ally along the way. Outside of this she discovers a few other tricks she can do with her powers. John Lynch continues his search for Thunderbook subjects and yet again comes close to death. A relatively slow issue that contradictorily reads very quickly.
Positives
First and foremost this is a dialogue issue that advances the story through character conversation. The WildStorm: Waiting for Godot. Above all else Warren Ellis demonstrates his amazing talent for dialogue here as it really is a fun issue despite the fact nothing much happens. Angie Spica’s conversation inside the internet is a lot more interesting than it can be described. The dialogue is believable and in places amusing. It helps that Jon Davis-Hunt’s artwork makes everything considerably more interesting to look at.
Speaking of which, as always the artwork is beautiful. It’s becoming a trope of the series that each issue will have at least one outstanding page amongst a number of fantastic ones. This month is no different with the John Lynch section yet again being gifted an amazing splash page. Davis-Hunt’s ability goes unquestioned at this stage but if any more proof were needed, he takes a dialogue heavy script and makes it something you could hang on your wall.Â
With John Lynch in mind, yet again he has the most entertaining section of the book. There are so many threads all tying closer together at this stage and his is by far the most interesting. Each month as he finds another Thunderbook subject things take an exciting turn. Lynch is becoming a highlight of the series.
Negatives
It’s hard to criticise an issue that leaves the reader so entertained, but it’s a testament to the creators’ skills that they can make an issue so entertaining when so few things happen. Readers would be forgiven for missing the fact that the plot moves forward by maybe an inch if they’re lucky. The word filler gets thrown around a bit too much, and this isn’t quite that bad, but it feels like this is a series made for trade paperbacks and that the month to month issues are an afterthought. As a single issue this is okay, but as a chapter in a graphic novel it’s excellent at slowing the pace.
Readers should be aware by now that it’s a risk buying an issue each week. They don’t know if they’ll get one of the action heavy stories or one of the slow conversation fuelled issues. It will be incredibly interesting to see how the full Wild Storm story is after it’s collected in a complete edition. But right now as a monthly title it’s more of a gamble than anything else.
Verdict
An entertaining issue in which not very much happens. There’s more than enough to keep readers invested but if they look beyond the dialogue they might see that the issue does nothing other than drag them along until next month.
