[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writer: Bryan Hill
Artists: N. Steven Harris, Dexter Vines
Colors: Ross Campbell
Letters: Simon Bowland
Summary
Here it is, everything comes to a dramatic conclusion in the final issue of this stand out series. Michael Cray has caught up with Constantine but is he capable of stopping Diana Prince’s plan to being the Old Gods back and destroy the world? Oh and there’s the being that’s being living inside Michael Cray, can he work with the strange creature?
Positives
Bryan Hill has been building to this point for months now. Given the task of making a Wild Storm spin off shouldn’t have been easy given the lineage of a writer like Warren Ellis helming the parent title. But Hill has made this series so engaging and entertaining that it comes off as effortless for him.
This issue is symbolic of the entire series. It contains just a bit of everything that’s made the series so good. There’s action, suspense, tense dialogue, elements of horror. What started as a fun else worlds tale has truly developed into something special. So special that the series elevates itself above the “for fans of the original WildStorm” category. This is something new that every comics reader can find something to enjoy in.
Within this issue there’s moments of both comic book action that readers come to expect but also fairly horrific violence that catches the readers off guard. It serves to remind them that even in this goofy world of magic and monsters a punch can hurt.
Over the course of 12 issues Michael Cray has become a likeable character that, despite his incredibly specific circumstances, everyone can see a bit of themselves in. Sure we don’t all have a parasitic alien inside us, but maybe we know what it’s like to be overwhelmed, lost or distant from family.
Negatives
It goes without saying by this point in the series but as with all other issues the art is what lets it down. Now there has been a definite improvement of over the course of the twelve issues with Ross Campbell’s colouring adding some much needed life into the book. This is probably the best the artwork has looked in the series and it’s clear that N. Steven Harris has been putting his all into making this conclusion special.Â
If there was to be another negative it would be that the issue feels too fast. It sounds a bit silly to say, but with so much build up it’s only a little disappointing to see how quickly everything is resolved. It’s just a shame that the series ends so quickly.Â
Verdict
Michael Cray had no right being as good as it was. This was a fantastic series that, at the very least, highlighted the character of Michael Cray as much as it did the writing talents of Bryan Hill. This is a great issue and well worth the read, the entire series is highly recommended. Bryan Hill is a writer to keep an eye out for.
