Ennis winds things up relatively quietly. There’s no return of the various supporting cast members—Joan of Arc doesn’t get a cameo, neither does Danny’s ex-girlfriend—instead, it’s just God, the Devil, the Anti-Christ and Jesus. Oh, and the talking bunny rabbit.

So it’s an intimate affair, lots of dialogue, a little sleight of hand. The problem with the issue—the first half, anyway—is the color scheme. It takes place in Hell, or at least a plain in limbo, and at night. It’s hard to make much out. Burrows’s art does come through, even the part when the reader needs to pay very close attention to something in the background, but it’s a chore.

Otherwise, it’s an excellent comic book. Ennis’s epilogue is full of humor, the kind kicked the series off with; it’s impossible not to enjoy.

Ennis ends on a quietly profound comment about friendship.

And here’s where Vertigo could have made more sensational news than in its entire history… Ennis’s God is a compulsive masturbator. I’d forgotten.

Burrows really captures the full page reveal beautifully, as well as Jimmy’s reaction to it.

There’s a bunch of great scenes this issue (as usual). Whether it’s Danny beating Judas to death or running into his ex-girlfriend, Ennis is on the top of his game. The ex-girlfriend scene is touching and sensitive and good writing. The Judas scene is a little different. Ennis sets Judas up as an unrepentant jerk (which sort of sells Wormwood a little to Christians, doesn’t it?) and his beat-down is glorious. Ennis learned how to make visceral violence rewarding on Preacher and just utilizes that skill again here.

Jimmy gets a lot of great lines in; he could support his own series.

As the penultimate issue, it works great.

Ennis is clearly gearing things up here for the finish, which is appropriate, I suppose, as he is in the second half of the series.

The beginning is more of the boys in Hell on their road trip (Jay eventually gets sick) while Satan and Pope Jacko hang out and try to figure out how to get armageddon started. There’s a lot of expository dialogue here from Satan about the history of Christianity. Ennis pulls it off, but he’s basically just on a soap box. It works… it’s just obvious.

Then the boys get back to New York and Ennis introduces another character who figures into the whole apocalypse thing. It’s a side story, one with some really funny details and opportunities to deepen Jay’s character (very sublimely, I’ll add) and give Jimmy some good lines.

The hard cliffhanger exemplifies creating tension without action.

Ennis continues to do great work.

There’s a bunch of funny stuff this issue—the trip to Heaven has a great punchline—and Ennis gets in an unexpected Marvelman nod….

But for the first time, in his comic about the LAPD beating in half of Jesus’s head and the Anti-Christ being a pretty good guy all around, Ennis starts to get a little disturbing. His images of Hell, which Jacen Burrows handles without aggrandizing, are incredibly disturbing. Ennis knows how to turn the screws without a lot of effort.

Then the finale brings things a little more humorous—with Pope Jacko and Satan teaming up—but it’s not enough to recover the mood.

Even though it’s Avatar and Vertigo would never have the stones, Wormwood feels like a late eighties Vertigo book. It feels like something everyone involved is excited about and assuredly doing great work on.

Though Jay doesn’t get enough lines this issue.

Ennis gets downright playful with the way he uses narrative in this issue. It’s a relatively simple move, but it focuses the reader on the page for a determined amount of time, regardless of how fast he or she usually reads. It’s a nice little trick.

The issue opens with Danny bickering with his father—his father being Satan—juxtaposed with the Catholic Church’s latest problem. The Church has gone and made a “red-blooded Australian” Pope and Pope Jacko is a fantastic foil for the story. Of course, so far, he has nothing to do with Danny, he’s just over in Vatican City being realistic while the rest of the Church is being reprehensible.

Jimmy the rabbit finally gets page time this issue too. He’s central to the finish. He’s one of Ennis’s stranger characters; Garth Ennis making a cute, obnoxious bunny. Who knew he had it in him?