Dark Horse Review: COLONEL WEIRD: COSMAGOG #2
[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artist: Tyler Crook
Colours: Tyler Crook
Letters: Tyler Crook
Reviewed By: Derek McNeil
Summary
Colonel Weird: Cosmagog #2: Through the decades, Colonel Randall Weird faces his past and future from all angles, and often out of order, as he struggles to maintain his sanity and protect himself–and those around him–from a fractured universe that swarms with untold dangers.
Positives
In Colonel Weird: Cosmagog #2, Randall Weird sets out to recover his lost memories by reliving them. But while he starts out at the beginning with his childhood, he still does tend to bounce around between different events in a random order.
One thing that I was intrigued to learn is that the Para-zone’s influence on Colonel Weird’s state of mind didn’t start when he first discovered the zone. Randall has been feeling it’s effects his whole life. As a young man about to set out on his first space adventures, we see him haunted by a feeling that he’s forgetting something. We also see him as a young boy spotting an old man in a space suit, who we recognize as the older Randall Weird.
Positives Cont.
I quite like that we get to see a scene of Colonel Weird in action with the original Black Hammer, at the start of the final battle with Anti-God. This being the battle that directly led into the core Black Hammer series. I hope that at some point we get a mini-series featuring the hero for whom Lemire’s superhero universe is named.
I really love Tyler Crook’s artwork on this series. He does a fantastic job of capturing the 50s science fiction feel. Crook’s style perfectly fits a story featuring a Silver Age space adventurer. And his art does show a influence from Steve Ditko, which is fitting, seeing as the main character draws partially on Ditko’s Shade, The Changing Man.
Negatives
Some readers might find it somewhat annoying that we still have little idea what is going on in this story. However, I feel that Lemire is justified in deepening the mystery with this second issue. And while there’s still not much indication of where the story is headed, the journey is still proving quite entertaining.
Verdict
Colonel Weird: Cosmagog #2 is another oustanding issue of this fabulous series which is Jeff Lemire’s love letter to Silver Age science fiction comics. I don’t know where this story is headed, but it’s hell of a ride so far.
