Usagi Yojimbo #104 (Dark Horse) w/a. Stan Sakai
“The Darkness and the Soul” tale concludes with nary a sign of our titular hero. That’s because, about two thirds of the way through, we realize this is the origin story of Jei, the demon spearsman. (Stan’s inside joke is that, with an honorific, he’d be “Jei-san,” which sounds a lot like another unstoppable cinematic slashing killer …) It’s all beautifully rendered, terrifying and poignant — par for the course, with this title.
Chronicles of Wormwood #5 of 6 (Avatar) w. Garth Ennis; a. Jacen Burrows
Wormwood, the affable Anti-Christ, realizes that he’s let his friend Jay — the Other Guy’s son — wander off with a returned Judas, which cannot bode well. Depressed, and metaphorically kicked in the balls by his ex-girlfriend, Wormwood waits until darkness to have a chat with his own father, which leads in typical Ennisian fashion to a meeting (next ish) with God. Bloody, irreverent fun, which is just what you expect from the writer.
X-Factor #21 (Marvel) w. Peter David; a. Pablo Raimondi
A mysterious guy in an ice flow takes meds to keep from overhearing the conversations of the world. Jaime tries to manage the unfortunate triangle between him, Monet, and Siryn. Rahne and Rictor reach out to each other in a couple of ways. Guido gets offered the job of sheriff for the mutant quarter of town. The team takes a job to reunite some kids with their grandparents. Someone at the office has a positive pregnancy test. And the guy from the firs scene sits down with Jaime in the bar to have a drink. It all fits together nicely, and the art is appropriately noirish and dark. I approve.
Y: The Last Man #57 (DC Vertigo) w. Brian Vaughan; a. Pia Guerra
Yorick and Beth make up for lost time, sex-wise. Which is fine, until she fesses up to something that kind of puts a kink in the relationship for the moment. He leaves — but what comes in through the door later is even more significant. (And, yeah, I’m being cryptic because there are some folks who really don’t want spoilers on this series.) As Y comes towards and end, I have no idea how it’s going to resolve. But it continues to be a fine book worth reading.
Thanks for pixellating the Y review (so to speak).
I was thinking of you. And, at that, I may have spilled too many beans. My apologies.
No apologies necessary! The last story of the sixth trade is a Beth spotlight issue. I’ve already been pondering some likely scenarios for their (to me, inevitable) reunion.