The Stop Button

And I’m not so much on board for the conclusion.

Here’s an action-packed issue. Pugh has his villain revealed, who’s really just an aggrieved party and aggrieved parties make terrible villains to demonize, since their plight makes sense. But worst is how he takes the series away from Hotwire at the end and gives it to her new boss. Her new boss has been in the comic for three issues; she doesn’t need to have the conclusion.

Pugh also avoids a lot, like what’s going on in other places. It’s a third-person narrative, but close to the point of distraction (though it does oscillate between Hotwire and her partner). He never shows what’s going on with the second tier villains, the Homeland Security stand-ins. He kills lots of them, but positions them as space invaders, not human beings.

It’s a good book overall, just a problematic finale.

CREDITS

Skull Face; writer, artist, colorist and letter, Steve Pugh; editor, Dave Elliott; publisher, Radical Comics.