While I can’t stand it when comic book reviews leap to ridiculous amounts of hyperbole in describing their feelings, you’re going to have to forgive me if I at least indulge a little for this review. After all, Moritat is back full time on art chores, or at least that’s what I thought going in. In addition, the eightissue story arc titled “Dangerous Liaisons” wrapped with an amazing cliffhanger that only whet my appetite for the coming story. I wanted to have a deeper story and I’m getting it.
For the most part, First Tiger Rich delivered on what I was hoping for this month. Let me begin by lauding his decision to start the fall from grace with Hip Flask. With the exception of Obadiah and Trench, we’ve had the opportunity to read about lovable characters who had a tough past try to reclaim what’s left of their life. Chief amongst them is Mr. Flask, who’s been a sitcom dad since I discovered him. The first issue I read of this title had him hobbling around in a gigantic cast. We cheered for him and his budding relationship with Miki, praised his desire to be more human and animal. Needless to say, him being outfitted with a device to denounce his human traits and bring to the surface his animal desires changes things a bit.
I will say that I didn’t expect the story to have as much resolution as it did when I got to the last page. While I’m ready to see Hip go back to normal as much as the next fan, I thought Starkings would drag out the “possessed Hip Flask rampages through Los Angeles” idea a little further. Granted, there are plenty of consequences for his actions, which were more than evident on Miki’s face as he snaps out of it. It’s easy to see why the story needed to move on when you look at future solicitations. These MAPPO agents that have been toying with the Elephantmen are still on the loose and something tells me the gang is going to have to come back together to address this.
One other interesting aspect of this story is the growing divide between Horn and Sahara. We’ve always known Obadiah’s dark side was lurking below the surface, but it was always believed that his bride to be Sahara kept that darkness at bay. Now, we learn she is keeping secrets of her own. It’s possible that when the hidden truth comes into full view, Sahara will learn that she can’t bring Horn back from the dark side (for lack of a better way to put it). I’ve always wanted to see Horn at his worst, mainly because at the core that’s who his character is. Maybe we will see that somewhere during the “Questionable Things” arc.
The main detractor for this issue dealt with the art, I’ll just get that out of the way. It’s hard for me to gripe really, because it’s nice to know that Moritat is on the path to recovery from whatever has been ailing him the past several months. He was just a machine for Rich when this title first kicked off, so much so that it was jolting to read my first issue without him doing the art. Suffice to say, I’m very familiar with the artist’s style. How weird it was for me to open the cover and see the title page drawn by someone not named Moritat. It immediately took me out of the story, as I had to scan the all the names of artists that helped with art on this issue. Of course, I do not fault the creators if Moritat needed some help finishing things up. You want to get your issue out and sometimes there are just not enough hours in the day. It was just a tough first read for me. I’m sure as the issue of this arc come out, we will see less and less of that.
The other detractor on the art was the coloring, which is another style point I had been used to seeing with Moritat. The colors weren’t as rich, it didn’t feel like we were in the correct place. Again, I’m guessing this had to do with the time Moritat had to spend on this issue. I would have rather seen Boo Cook finish Moritat’s work because that’s what I’m used to. I do not mean this as a criticism of Gregory Wright’s work, I was just hoping to see things as I remembered them before my favorite Elephantmen artist became ill.
This story arc should be exciting for fans of the series. A good amount of detective work mixed with action when things come to a head. Hopefully, we will see all of the Elephantmen make an appearance and in six more issues end with a bang. Thanks for the great stories as of late Rich. I’d like to think I had a little part in prodding you along, or at least that’s what my ego is telling myself.
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