Review: Far Sector #10
[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writer: N.K. Jemisin
Art: Jamal Campbell
Colors: Jamal Campbell
Letters: Deron Bennett
Reviewed by; Matthew B. Lloyd
Summary
Jo has been arrested by the CEPD (City Enduring Police Department). She’s given a plea bargain opportunity, but she makes her own play instead resulting in a far greater surprise than anyone expected!
Positives
There are a lot of great things about this issue and series overall which are slowly rising to the surface. Taking a step back, it’s becoming apparent that this is a tour-de-force of writing. As we are almost to the end of the 12-issue journey with Far Sector #10, the seeds that have been planted are bearing fruit and the pacing is echoing that of a standard novel. Perhaps, the most striking aspects are the relevant socio-political themes for our world today.
Jemisin has been developing these themes from early on, allowing us to get to know the world of City Enduring just as Jo does, and along the way she begins to see her own experiences on Earth reflected in this alien world. In this issue, so many of these aspects come to the surface and coalesce with the overall storyline. In this issue alone we get fake news, other governments interfering with social media and even election fraud. These ideas should be familiar to readers who have an awareness of what’s going on with current events. Richard Nixon’s quote at the beginning of the issue feels eerily prophetic knowing the issue was written well in advance of the events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021– “A riot is a spontaneous outburst, a war is subject to advanced planning.” If that’s not a little chilling, I don’t know what is.
Positives Cont’d
The plot itself has a couple, maybe three twists in this issue alone which I don’t intend to spoil here. However, they come one after the other and serve to muddle the waters that force Jo into some hard decisions for the finale. The pacing of this issue is executed very well as the issue hums along despite the majority of it taking place in an interrogation room. The flashbacks are used effectively to keep things moving. This echoes the pacing of the whole series. It’s clear that once this is collected and read as a single volume the slower issues will fall into perfect rhythm with the complete story.
This is the last of the Young Animal titles and it’s great to see that DC has kept the imprint going for the duration of this title. Vertigo titles changed over to Black Label earlier in the year and it gives a little bit of hope that there’s some mileage left in Gerard Way’s imprint. It’s a small thing, but it’s significant that Far Sector is still under this banner.
Negatives
There’s simply no negatives here.
Verdict
Far Sector #10 continues to surprise and present relevant socio-political themes that are not often found in comics. These raise the level of storytelling to a higher level than even the average “great comic.” This is the way it’s been with Young Animal Comics. The series in this imprint have always contained a deeper theme. Far Sector is obviously no different. This is a highly recommended series, there is just far more to this than the average comic, which is not only indicative of the best comics, but also so the Young Animal imprint.
