Ferryman
Issue: #4
Writer: Marc Andreyko
Artist: Jonathan Wayshak
32 pp. Wildstorm/DC. $3.50
Reviewed by Paul Stotts
“So what, you’re like the Harriet Tubman of lost souls? A Ferryman who’s seen the error of his ways?”—Marc Andreyko, Ferryman #4
The plot thickens like a heavy pancake batter in the fourth issue of Ferryman as Gideon engages in a tug-of-war for his own soul and ideology. While he’s good at finding other lost souls, he’s a mess when it comes to rediscovering his own. So clearly wanting redemption, but have difficulty finding it—even when an opportunity smacks him in his grizzled jaw—Gideon’s guilt is overwhelming him. He’s a spitting ball of anger and violence, taking his hurt out on a dirty world.
Writer Marc Andreyko has created a stunning apocalyptic universe, populated with wonderfully freakish characters. It’s eschatology from the mouth of a mad man. Salvation is a key theme, and questions about whether salvation is deserved for the selfless are raised in the issue.
The battle scenes between the various Ferrymen are exciting and creative, brutal and gritty free-for-alls between characters that can absorb tons of punishment, and still ask for additional heaping helping of mayhem. Drop a safe on their head and they keep going. Such immortality makes for some extended fighting goodness.
Throughout the series, Andreyko has used flashbacks to leak out bits of Gideon’s past. His past is not overly complicated, but still the flashbacks have been an inspired choice by Andreyko. They serve as physical reminders to the reader of Gideon’s gnawing guilt. His anguish is apparent, and his tortured soul is laid bare.
You know that feeling you get when you want to see what an artist is going to come up with next. I’m there with Jonathan Wayshak. He’s quickly rising up the ranks of my favorite comic artists. Doubt me—peep some of the artwork he posted for the series here. Impressive, no?
Ferryman has become my guilty pleasure, a series that flat-out rocks for entertainment and maniacal mayhem. It’s always worth the look.
Final Grade: 84 out of 100
Related Posts:
Comic Break: Ferryman #1 (DC/Wildstorm)
Comic Break: Ferryman #2 (DC/Wildstorm)
Comic Break: Ferryman #3 (DC/Wildstorm)
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