Dorkin continues to get better this issue and Haspiel nicely evens out. It’d be hard to get much worse than last issue, so at least he arrested the art decline.

It doesn’t become clear what Dorkin’s really doing with Yancy Street until the last few pages and, once it is clear, well… It’s unfortunate.

For all his repetitive Ben Grimm standards the first couple issues, Dorkin actually tries to do something significant (it’s irrelevant because, based on the time period, it’s clear the story was never in continuity) with the character.

And Haspiel is the wrong match.

I mean, Dorkin needs a strong editor on the series to reign in some of the nonsense and to sharpen the narration and to pace out the last two issues… but the series could have been something amazing.

Instead, Yancy Street’s a mildly interesting effort, one with the wrong art for the script.

It’s really too bad, but as Dorkin’s writing gets better, Haspiel’s art continues to get worse. This issue is frequently hideous, what with the Sandman having an all new costume. It looks like a cross between a jester’s outfit and something from the sixties “Batman” TV show.

Dorkin’s trying—finally—to bring some authentic New York flavor to the comic, which doesn’t work particularly well, but at least he’s trying. He also foreshadows (or maybe not, maybe it’s just predictable) the death of Ben’s squeeze. Dorkin also takes another crack at dealing with Ben and Alicia’s relationship like it’s important. He does better, but not well.

I assume the final issue will have more troubled art (Haspiel and the superhero outfits is complete failure) and all questions will be answered. Well, the questions raised this issue. Dorkin either didn’t bother before or just executed those scenes incompetently.

It’s nearly mediocre.