Ennis doesn’t pull it off. There’s a huge connection to the regular Boys series, which seems rather forced, and the artists screw up the final shot of Annie so it’s unclear what’s going on with her and Hughie.
Highland Laddie ought to be amazing. It ought to be Local Hero as a comic book, with some superhero details and so on, but it’s just a mess instead. McCrea and Burns do an amazing disservice to the great parts of Ennis’s script.
Still, Ennis does a lot of the disservice himself. He’s got to know the good stuff–he filled the first few issues with it–but he doesn’t stick to it. He rushes again here, not even able to do a good reveal with Hughie’s friends’ resolutions.
And the intentional lack of resolution with the parents? It could have worked, but it doesn’t. Just like Hughie’s apologies.
It’s incredibly disappointing.
CREDITS
Made From Girders; writer, Garth Ennis; artists, John McCrea and Keith Burns; colorist, Tony Aviña; letterer, Simon Bowland; editor, Joseph Rybandt; publisher, Dynamite Entertainment.
It’s a religious cult mystery, along with some teenage lovers–one being the daughter of Jennifer’s friend. Barr doesn’t pause on his contrivances (it’s not just the daughter, but also Gabe’s religious history), just moves full steam ahead.
The annual has three stories. The first has Rick Magyar, Darick Robertson and William Messner-Loebs illustrating a Spirit homage. It’s a lot of fun; Barr’s script for it is very fast. Gabe’s on a mission, runs into Jennifer, both having Spirit references in their appearance. It’d be impossible to tell the story without the art angle. Very nice opening.