More truths revealed.
Creative Staff:
Story: Tim Seeley
Art: Priscilla Petraites
Colors: Marco Lesko
Letterer: Marshall Dillon
What They Say:
Lifespan, Inc. has Kennedy Avis in its clutches, and with her the information to privatize superhumanity. But as Jim Heller counts the days left in his life, will he allow the woman he just rescued to be made into a disposable corporate asset?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Brilliant Trash has been an interesting series to see how it’s coming together because it’s worked a kind of frenetic approach at times with a mishmash of ideas. While I can see the larger picture that Tim Seeley is putting together with how it’s looking to go, the smaller pieces in each issue feel disjointed and I keep waiting for it all to click together in an “aha!” kind of way. The book definitely makes out well for Petraites’ artwork as it has a really good flow to it and I like the weirdness that filters in, especially with some of the new characters that pop into view for this issue. But there’s still a weird sense of unease that I feel with the book in that there’s something missing in the flow of it all from issue to issue as opposed to something that connects smoothly.
Kennedy’s mind is still dealing with everything from Zhen and it’s certainly timing what she’s learning well. This one gives us an old lady Zhen as she’s stepping outside of what Cromwell wants her to do with the technology she’s created and that has her being threatened some time ago, which has naturally lead to events here. So it’s little surprise that he’s the one running Lifespan when Jim Heller brings here there, though she’s at least smart enough to try and keep some of this knowledge on the sly – from both Heller and Cromwell. The introduction to the place is fairly straightforward but it throws a lot of different things at us, from the ponytailed guard that reminded me of the bad guy from the movie Contact to the quick introductions of Cromwell where he’s basically trying to put Kennedy on his side as a kind of press liaison instead of writing about the place in a bad way. He at least is aware of her past writing and foolishly kind of tries to use it against her.
The other side is intent on getting her and this is their last visible window and with double agents in Lifespan they put, well, no plain motion other than “grab her!” and go at it with some wonky and funky looking transformed characters. It’s silly and fun in all the right ways, especially with Jim on the defense protecting Kennedy as he views himself in old four color glory as a superhero of comic books of decades ago. The problem is that he’s more interested in protecting Kennedy in general and that’s now starting to include Cromwell. But the bigger problem is that his vision of himself as a superhero, which is at his core personality, has been heightened by a bunch of kids Cromwell is working on as well and they’re falling apart. The Akira film nods are pretty blunt here, right down to the cap, and it kind of took me out of things more than I cared for as now I’m just viewing aspects of the series in that vein.
In Summary:
I’m still trying to get a handle on this book in a lot of ways and I keep wondering if it’ll all work and flow better when read in succession quickly rather than the monthly gaps. There are some definite fun areas here, especially the flashback pieces with Zhen once again, and I like how Heller is viewing himself as he goes through the process of living up to his ideals. It’s got all the good stuff of the old days but mixed in with some of the harder edges of today. The flow of the book still feels disjointed and clunky in some areas as it moves about either in a jumpy or too quick of a way but it makes up for that with some creative weirdness that I continue to find strangely appealing.
Grade: C+
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: AfterShock Comics
Release Date: February 21st, 2018
MSRP: $3.99
