The Stop Button

Guera’s back and he does great work. Well, except one page with this skinhead. Maybe drawing white people just throws him off his game.

As for the story… It’s all about Lincoln and Dino. Aaron brackets the story with a flash forward and then explains some of the bracket in the rest of the issue. Actually just the final scene, between Lincoln and Dino’s grandmother. There are some other hints as to what might come in future chapters of the arc and none of them are good.

The complicated character work with Lincoln is, as usual, phenomenal. Dash doesn’t make an appearance, which is fine. Aaron seems to be understanding more and more about not overfilling his issues. Dino’s story doesn’t confuse Lincoln’s; they just coexist at a respectable distance.

Sadly Aaron continues with his two-dimensional characterization of the Hmong villains (while the skinhead’s humanized).

Otherwise it’s near perfect.

CREDITS

The Gravel in Your Guts, Part One; writer, Jason Aaron; artist, R.M. Guera; colorist, Giulia Brusco; letterer, Steve Wands; editor, Will Dennis; publisher, Vertigo.

Contemporaneously…

• Fantastic Four: True Story 3 (November 2008)
• The Immortal Iron Fist: Orson Randall and the Death Queen of California 1 (November 2008)
• Air 2 (November 2008)
• Criminal 7 (November 2008)
• Solomon Kane 3 (November 2008)