George R.R. Martin's Wild Cards: The Hard Call
Issue: #3
Writer: Daniel Abraham
Artist: Eric Battle
32 pp. Dabel Brothers. $3.99
Reviewed by Paul Stotts
Through the first two issues, "George R.R. Martin's Wild Cards" series has improved steadily. The plotting and dialogue have been the constant, stellar and entertaining. But the art had been less than desirable, appearing sloppy and rushed at certain points. Previously, I've been hard on artist Eric Battle's work for the series, but I must say in the latest issue, he really comes through, delivering his best work to date. It's nice to see this series progressing overall in a positive direction.
Alex still suffers psychologically over the sudden loss of his younger brother to the Wild Card virus, as well as his own transformation into an Ace. He decides he wants to take the Trump vaccine, an extremely risky cure for the virus. However since Alex is an Ace, an individual with superpowers, he is considered too important to the world to cure. Frustrated, he seeks out to find Kira, who disappeared suddenly from the clinic at the end of the previous issue. Realizing he doesn't know his way around Jokertown, Alex sets about finding Croyd "The Sleeper" Crenson to help him in tracking down Kira.
Meanwhile, the murderer of Nurse Stephanie Winters is secretly dosing the residents of Jokertown with the Trump vaccine, curing some while unfortunately killing others. Just like with the murder of Nurse Winters, Croyd is being blamed for the poisoning.
Daniel Abraham's writing continues to be sharp and focused. The series, so far, has leaned more towards heavy action-plotting and less towards character development. This leads me to think that I haven't learned anything substantial about the characters. Alex's internal struggle concerning his new found powers is interesting, but abbreviated in scope. Also at this point, there appears to be too many characters in the story. Simon hasn't brought anything to the series yet except for some minor comic relief, and Kira is just the damsel-in-distress plot device.
As stated previously, Battle's artwork has improved dramatically in this issue. His panels were much more engaging, appearing more vibrant and less flat overall. In particular, I thought Alex's action sequence at the end of the issue was his best work on the series so far. Ultimately, a good solid issue to a series on the upswing.
Final Grade: 80 out of 100
0 comments:
Post a Comment