Writer: Richard Starkings
Artist: Moritat
Publisher: Image Comics
I’m sure a good bit of you reading this review are male. Demographics say that’s the case, but who knows. If my wife and mother count, I’m sure there are females reading it, and that’s because I make them.
Reason being, if you’re the kind of guy who enjoys the alpha-male stride out into war like a god and smack his enemies with his manhood…this is the book for you. The only thing that made the rating go down on this issue is that it only presented half a good story.
More on that in a minute.
The character of Joe Trench is part of the reason we read comics in the first place. We get him. We know him. Whether his character uses bats as his symbol, or adamantium claws for that matter, characters like this have acquired cult status for decades. Those types of people have been worshipped for longer than any of us have been alive for sure.
Right about now is when I usually pop in the word “but.”
The reason for that is there always is one. That’s the joy of this business. I mostly am struggling to figure out the identity of this book. I haven’t read all 9 issues so far (I have issues zero, six, seven and eight), but I plan on it. What I’m getting from Starkings is he wants to present mostly in each issue are single “case files” having to do with the Elephantmen and the agency they work for and somehow weave them all together. Hip Flask is there as always and many times becomes a secondary character to what goes on within the issue. He acts almost like an emcee if you will, ushering the plot along only to hand it off to someone else in the next 22 pages.
I get that, and this title is starting to get warmer in my hands as I read. If I were to think of the kind of book that typifies this resurgence of Image, this would be one of the leaders of the pack. Maybe I just need to read the previous five issues before I get what they are really going for with this book. That is the only thing keeping this series from being at the top of my reading list.
Then there are the back-up stories. The iFrog is cute and was a novelty item to appear in other issues. I just don’t need eight pages about its daily mishaps while Hip is out bringing home the bacon. Just when I was getting amped up watching Trench kill people in cold blood, the book turned upside down on me. I thought it was very cool that Starkings gave him ‘Nam flashbacks to the point where he’s spitting out, “Blood and Sand,” as he sprays hot metal. That was a very Rambo moment for me, and that in no way is an insult. Just let me see more and leave the frog in dummy ads.
Moritat does very good work. There’s also a great amount of detail in his drawings, while the colors give it a grittier feel to the pencils.
I ask each of you to please try this book out. My comic shop owner is like most business owners: he rarely gets a chance to sit around and play with his merchandise because he’s too busy trying to sell it. Well, this is one book he makes a point to read every week. That to me says it’s worth buying. He’s been selling books for over 15 years, so take it for what it’s worth.
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