All cards on the table.
Creative Staff:
Story: Frank J. Barbiere
Art: Crizam Cristhian Zamora
Colors: Dinei Ribeiro
What They Say:
Who is the Hooded Man? What mysteries lie in the heart of the Alchemy Academy? Will Mort and Jo be able to get answers before they’re ripped to shreds by mechanical monsters? All this and more in the thrilling penultimate chapter from Frank J. Barbiere and Crizam Zamora!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
While there are a good number of books and series that can be pretty predictable from the start there is still a lot of pleasure to be derived from them. While there are the cores of storytelling that exist, it’s the nuance and trappings of them that make them stick out. The Precinct was certainly a book that was familiar from the start but it worked some good conception material with it while also just embracing the familiarity in a way by digging in firm with the archetypes. Sometimes you can just go all in with the characters and how they handle a situation and it be a thoroughly engaging ride just because of that. Mort, in particular, really exemplifies that here. He’s a stock character but he’s made so much more by the kind of force of personality given to him through narration and dialogue.
With this being the penultimate installment of the series we get a lot of the familiar final place settings put into motion. Mort’s dealing with the machine that went after him has him coming to the realization of just how easy they are to defeat once you get past the demonic appearance. And that it’s just a guy inside that’s not even himself because of the likely drugs and manipulation put into play. So there’s a sense of freedom out of him when he fights against it until the rest of the police finally arrive. This kind of understanding of his enemy whittles it down to simplicity but it also simply clicks well because he just gets to beat the tar out of it. And for a character like Mort, who does have some strong deductive abilities, getting a chance to just tear something apart, is quite satisfying.
Jo’s story, on the other hand, is a bit more involved. With Mort’s words in her mind after being kind of shunted back to just being a proper Academy person, she begins her own investigation as something is off about the archduke. She’s certainly not subtle in what she does, but with one issue left they have to just get right into things. Moving their plans forward to end the way the Academy works, the archduke and his side puts everything into motion quickly with Jo under their power and a whole lot of chaos. It’s a big play to be sure and the kind that’s invariably going to fail since it’s the smaller and quieter behind the scene moments that really change the world over time. Their attempts to bring down the old order is going to make for a lot of chaotic fun to watch, but you can see how it’s going to unfold. But it’s hitting some very fun beats here with the team is doing.
In Summary:
Barbiere continues to infuse The Precinct pretty well with personality, though it’s mostly Mort that really dominates with it because of the gruff side that comes out beyond his character design and mechanical arm. There’s some good action to be had here as the story moves through the right beats to bring us to the big moment where it all goes nuts. Jo’s story is one that suffers the most simply because there wasn’t the time to really bring the dynamics of the world to life with why there are those so strongly against the Academy. We got the boilerplate side of it but not enough to really give it weight. But with a short series that’s to be expected, so it works in context to what we get here and provides for the easy and obvious enemy in plain sight making his move. It’s fun and well produced, leaving me looking forward to the finale.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: March 9th, 2016
MSRP: $3.99
