So the big revelation this issue? David Kim is kind of an angel. The guest-starring angels, off panel, tell him so. And, just as Rozum has pushed the series as far away from tangible reality as possible, the back matter promises to bring it back. Next issue will feature David’s fiancée, who apparently hasn’t missed him in the last two months since he’s been fighting supernatural beasts.

I’ve been reading Xombi ever hopeful; Rozum had an excellent issue and the writing’s always technically good… he just doesn’t have a story. This issue, in terms of continuity, comes right before the zero issue. Maybe the book will have a creative upswing soon.

Maybe.

Notice I haven’t really talked about the content? It’s because there’s very little there. It’s a lot of action with supernatural monsters. Who cares? I miss the bigger—and funnier—supporting cast.

The book’s seriously downbeat now.

Rozum paces the issue somewhat well. He was some twists in the first few pages by the end, I thought they happened last issue as the hard cliffhanger. It lets him utilize a couple different tones to it.

Of course, Birch helps with the tone too. The end becomes this frantic chase sequence, usually comedic; when the issue ends on its own cliffhanger, it’s a surprise. It seemed like Rozum was going to wrap things up.

In fact, resolved events are turned back, left unresolved. Rozum finds a great deus ex machine and he brings it in and… well, maintains the series’s meandering nature.

One interesting thing at the beginning of this issue—Rozum decides it takes place two months after the first issue. One would think David Kim would have a very interesting life in those two months, but apparently not.

Xombi’s a good read… but nothing ever happens.

More mentions of Xombi‘s meaning—it’s pronounced zombie, notch—but nothing explaining how David became one (it’s not just a science thing, presumably, but also a magic thing) when he had his science-driven origin. His friends don’t talk much about it either.

Rozum does something very strange here, bringing another of the supporting cast into the issue for what seems to be no reason. Next issue might reveal his reasoning and I hope it does… otherwise, it’s pretty clear he’s padding these issues out.

Birch ends the issue on a rather hideous image. It’s easily the most hideous image in the issue, so it’s good he saved it for the last page.

Otherwise, not much happens. One of the supporting cast is doing magic to save the day. Magic takes a while.

Oh, and there’s an angel guest-starring, so I guess Heaven is in continuity.

It’s competently blah.

So apparently the title, Xombi, isn’t just a riff on zombie, but some way of describing David Kim. We learn about it from the latest bunch of new characters Rozum adds this issue. I don’t think he goes a single issue without introducing two new characters. Here it might be four.

Again, not much of the comic has really to do with David. He’s again moving through a situation he doesn’t belong in and, with all the new supernatural elements, one wonders if he’s even one of the more interesting characters anymore. The guy with the giant pet lion and the eyes all over his body seems a lot more engaging.

Birch handles all Rozum’s script throws at him—this time it’s a lot more physical than conceptual, but some of the compositions are particularly good. It’s got a real graphic sense to the narrative.

It’s just a tad meandering.

Just after I’ve gotten used to the supporting cast, Rozum gets rid of them for a new one. These people have more to do with David, I suppose, but they’re his regular friends. They’re nowhere near as interesting as the wacky, magical ones.

This issue starts a new arc and Rozum has returned to the regular narration. No more David Kim narrating, unfortunately.

Most of the issue hinges on how successful Birch is at drawing something really disturbing. it turns out he’s really good at it and makes someone with a hand for legs incredibly uncanny. It’s mostly an action issue. There’s some mood and talking heads, but it’s mostly action. Physical versus supernatural.

What’s particularly interesting is how Rozum uses David. He doesn’t use his powers and only gets into the story because he’s trying to help. He’s compelled to try.

It’s both a bridge issue and not one.

And so Rozum promised a lot, maybe without realizing it, from this issue and he delivers. He delivers more than I hoped.

He seems to get how important it is for Xombi to finally be about the protagonist. This issue, the supernatural oddness of the last four are almost forgotten; their brief mentions are all to remind they exist in an otherworldly realm David doesn’t primarily inhabit.

Rozum narrates it first person, from David’s point of view. It’s the first time he’s really gotten inside the character and he sends him on a tragic, but redemptive issue.

My cynical side says this issue should have been the second one, but the time in between this one and the first makes it all the more affecting. Birch is a lot more on target here too, without all the supernatural elements.

It’s a great comic book and sets Xombi’s bar rather high.

The soft cliffhanger implies Rozum is going to start dealing with David’s stuff next issue. I’m not holding my breath, but I am somewhat hopeful….

This issue is another mixed bag. The issue revolves around this giant monster—who Rozum just now introduces, even though he’s been sort of present a while—and the gang trying to defeat with it. It doesn’t taken them very long. In fact, it’s like Rozum and Birch don’t realize they’re not doing a movie. Giant monsters in comics don’t have a lot of dramatic effect.

One of the non-permanent supporting cast members exits here too. He’s last scene is one of the best scenes in a Xombi issue in a while. It’s very bittersweet and touching, even if Rozum abbreviated it a little too much.

Still, lots of good character moments and the plot does move.

And I’m hopeful for the next one.

Even Birch seems to give up a little this issue, which introduces a bunch of new things—not just new characters, but new creatures—for David Kim to contend with. Birch’s faces look unfinished, like he skipped inking them because he had to much other stuff to do.

There’s only a little stuff with Kim this issue; he gets to beat up the villain and show off his superpowers again. By the end, Rozum is already introducing more stuff for the next issue.

Xombi doesn’t work in any traditional sense—it’s like Rozum had an idea for the big story and just used his protagonist to tell that story. It’s an okay story (too many proper nouns to remember), but Rozum’s characters are really good and the dialogue’s funny.

It’s just not particularly compelling. Because he drops the reader into this preexisting situation, it’s impossible to really care about it.

At one point this issue, the Nun of the Above—who’s that nun I mentioned last time—tells one of the new cast members she’s never heard of him. My response is similar. I’m weary at trying to keep the cast straight. From the first five pages, Rozum has got five or six people moving through the issue.

He introduces two to six more by the end, depending how you want to count. It’s all very mystical, very supernatural… and has nothing to do with protagonist David Kim.

It’s impossible to discount the comic book. Xombi is a very good comic book; Birch’s art matches the script and the script is well written.

It’s just almost impossible to connect with. David Kim hasn’t even called his fiancée yet. We haven’t even established if people are going to call him David or something else.

Rozum’s dragging the reader through a mess.

J.J. Birch is the perfect artist for this book. He can even make cute little mechanical birds like mildly scary.

Rozum resolves his cliffhanger. Actually, it wasn’t a hard cliffhanger, but a soft one. There are no happy moments, no redemptive ones, no smiles.

Well, maybe some smiles. Here, Rozum introduces the supporting cast—and, yes, one of them is a nun—and he has a good time with them. They’re all meeting the protagonist, David Kim, for first time, but they’ve been around together. There’s bickering, there are inside jokes; it’s a great scene.

There’s some hints at the villains too, and it definitely seems as though Rozum is going to embrace the supernatural with the series, which is kind of strange. It’s about a science-based “superhero” who deals exclusively with magical antagonists. I’m sure Rozum can make it work.

But, the endless proper nouns are getting annoying.