The issue reads too fast. It becomes a showcase for Phillips’s abilities at creating a static montage sequence, which are considerable, but Brubaker is still passing it poorly.
The first half of the issue is the band at the house, trying to figure out what to do with a dead body. Brubaker plays the scene for effect, time and again, and not actual narrative progression. He doesn’t stick with the biggest reveal of the scene. Instead, he lets it pass almost without comment to set up his next dramatic moment.
The second half is the music video shoot, where Jo’s dancing sends everyone into a psychotic trance of sex and violence. Phillips does great work with all those little scenes–Brubaker moves through the whole cast (including the forgotten cop)–but it’s again all for effect.
Brubaker spent too much time setting up this arc’s concept instead of its plot.
CREDITS
Writer, Ed Brubaker; artist, Sean Phillips; colorist, Elizabeth Breitweiser; publisher, Image Comics.
Leave a Reply