Review: Crossover #7
[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Publisher: Image Comics
Writer: Chip Zdarsky
Artist: Ande Parks
Colors: Dee Cunniffe
Letters: John J. Hill
Reviewed by: Seth Singleton
Summary
Crossover #7 pulls away from the explosive ending of the last issue. Not only does the story follow the adventures of a writer in hiding, but it also gets a little meta with Chip Zdarsky. Is that why his name is on the cover?
Positives — Life On The Run
Life is hard. It can be harder when someone is running from the life that they built. For starters, it makes finding or keeping a job that much more difficult. And then there’s housing and food and not being recognized.
Now, why would someone leave behind their life? Because they are in danger. That danger is something that is hunting people who create comics. It could be someone, but since the crossover of comic book worlds into real life, the possibilities have expanded.
It all started in issue #2 when Brian K. Vaughn was found murdered. When it didn’t stop there Chip Zdarsky went on the run under the name Dave Murray. Because Dave Murray is close enough to Chip’s real name of Steve Murray.
Steve is lonely enough to wander into a comic book store and be recognized by one of the staff. He knows better. He even explains that he knows this during a phone call with his partner after having drinks with the comic nerd who recognizes him.
Positives — Chips
Something or someone is hunting the comic book characters. Until this night Chip believed that he had gone far enough away to escape the danger. But fleeting movements out of the corner of his eye send him running scared. Since Chip is not an athlete the running is short-lived.
But what he believes is an imminent death is something far more dangerous. It’s him as an illustration. It’s Chip, but not Chip. This Chip is self-assured and comfortable in any situation. The kind of guy who knows he’s going to score and is just waiting for the next time to happen to him. Some people might recognize his appearance in another of Chip’s books.
This Chip is also noble and willing to risk his life to save his real-life counterpart. In doing so, he manages to buy real-life Chip enough time to escape. Illustrated Chip also suggests that the killer is someone that Chip knows. Maybe even someone that members of the comic book community know. But that is a secret for another time.
Negatives
You’ll be hard-pressed to find any negatives in this issue.
Verdict
When Chip Zdarsky mocks himself for appearing in another comic and then runs into the same comic book version of himself it’s clear that he does not mind having fun at his own expense. The result is the kind of self-conscious awareness that most artists, writers, and creators will recognize.
The departure from the story of Elle and her friends seeking a way back to the nexus between her world and another does not pull away from the energy of the series. If anything, it highlights the secondary story of the comic creators whose lives were endangered the moment the wall between worlds was torn asunder.
