The series draws to a close with a whole lot of…. well, stuff.
Creative Staff:
Story: Mark Waid
Art: Neil Edwards
What They Say:
Is Spektor the Key? Why is everything around him falling away? Will his ultimate decision destroy the universe…or unlock it?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The fate of Doctor Spektor was decided before the first issue premiered as it was changed from an ongoing series to a four issue miniseries, cut short simply because of the low preorders for it. With delays between the issues themselves and a storyline that just made little sense in a lot of ways, it was no surprise that even those that got into it, myself included, had a hard time recommending it. The books use of a little known Gold Key character was ripe for opportunity, but with the sea of characters out there, there was little that really drew people into it. The final issue of the series is one that does, in some absolutely weird way, provide closure for things and it helps to establish the character in the “larger” Gold Key line of books Dynamite produces. It also gives us a last page that just leaves you with a dumbfounded look for the most part.
With Spektor in the place that he’s in with Gail talking to him now after the end of the previous issue, this issue is huge on exposition and explanations of what’s going on. In essence, Spektor lived this larger than life experience before and had spent time with a group that dealt with impossible issues, such as Magnus, Doctor Solar, Turok and others. Gail talks of his fight against the Sky Gods and what was involved there, and how in an effort to protect himself after sacrificing himself to save the others in the fight they were all involved with, he reinvented his life in a way to what we got at the start of the series where he’s the wealth reality TV host dealing in the supernatural. It’s not exactly an “It’s all a dream!” realization, but it’s close enough in a way that you basically discount much of what’s happened so far.
There are some admittedly very cool things designed in the book here, such as when the group ended up in the other plane and we see them striding along and Spektor gets all intent on doing what needs to be done to save everyone. There’s also some good emotion from Spektor in a lot of place, particularly through the artwork, that almost makes him accessible in a way as well. The time with Gail is definitely very heavy on the exposition, but you really get the sense that she’s speaking to him from the heart and that it is reaching his as well. We do get a little closure with Abby that ties to what her experiences have been in all of this as Walker is doing her best to help her, but Walker also throws a spanner into the works when she realizes the path that Spektor’s on and how it’s going to alter her life. Which, in turn, leads to a whole other “what the fuck” kind of moment as we see Abby wake later, going on that it’s not her name, and suddenly land in some other world where she claims to Lakota Rainflower – Monster Hunter.
In Summary:
I like Mark Waid. I’ve read a lot of Mark Waid books over the years and have an affection for a number of his runs on various books. This series felt like one of the furthest things from a Mark Waid series and more of a series by committee that ended up just being a hodgepodge of stuff without any clear vision. Could it have been the unifying book to bring the various Gold Key characters together? Sure. It looks like that was one of the angles it wanted to work with. But after a very fun if awkward first issue, everything just came across as though the whole project was falling apart and it made less and less sense. This issue tries to bind it all together with a narrative heavy expositional piece with dashes of action, but even in this context it all just feels incredibly off, especially if you are reading the other Gold Key books and are trying to figure out how they truly connect together. I had some good hopes for this little known character, but frankly the property just needs a full on reboot rather than trying to insert him as a supporting character elsewhere.
Grade: D+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: November 26th, 2014
MSRP: $3.99
Great review! Also, thank you for mentioning the delays! There seems to be so few people on the net talking about it, and some even gushing about how these Dynakey series’ are the best things to come out on the stands each month!…Which is a baffling thing to say considering they’re frequently a month late, at the least.
What I really just cannot understand is that Dynamite’s Gold Key line is having these serious scheduling delays for all their books when that exact fate befell Dark Horse’s attempt at reviving these very same characters! I guess that’s synchronicity for you!
The scheduling is really all over the map as we go six weeks with nothing and then two books within a month. It just sort of washes over me since it’s out of my control. For a book like Spektor, it’s worse because it was a very convoluted book in its approach and the delays made it harder to really put together.