1865 so isn’t Antonia’s year.
Creative Staff:
Writer/Artist: John Byrne
What They Say:
The American Civil War grinds to its grim conclusion, with one last act to be written in blood across the pages of history. But what if someone from the future had prior knowledge of that act? And took steps to prevent it? And what if that someone was Tony Murcheson?
The Review:
While the last couple of issues has had us jumping around,and dealt with a Bethany that spent 238 years stuck under rubble, this issue keeps us firmly planted in 1865. Toni’s story has been one of the more compelling ones of the thrown into time storyline that’s been going on and with the last issue showing us her waiting out the end of the Civil War, this one shows us what she does now that it’s ended. It’s a bit of an amusing thing to deal with in a way because of how we’re used to information moving like wildfire that when we think of it in the past, it doesn’t connect. She knows when the war ends and that the news quickly spreads, but that’s how it’s written in history books. She’s able to take advantage of the slight delay in it though by dealing with her now former master in his bedroom, ensuring that he will find the coming pain to be inflicted on him and others by the Union will be well felt on top of other things. Unfortunately for her, she doesn’t get to escape alone as Verity insists on escaping as well, with or without her.
The journey takes up a good chunk of the book as we see them make their way north as Verity wants to get to relatives in Philadelphia, something that Toni figures can be handled after her mission is over. The journey is really fun to watch as they figure out ways to hide what they are sine the news hasn’t hit and retribution could be had easily by those angered by the surrender of the Confederacy. It’s a little too cute in that they make Verity look like a slave boy and Toni tries to play up the mute male slave, but it works enough to get them to Washington. A very different Washington from what Toni knows from her time and it’s almost quaint. But it’s also a reminder of just how different the world then and now is as they essentially walk in the front door of the place and have a sit down conversation with Lincoln. Her hopes of throwing off Booth’s plans makes a lot of sense from her perspective in that you might as well make a big change if you can make one, but it’s also easy to see how people wouldn’t change what they do in a situation like this.
Toni’s almost a bit too relaxed, tense as she is, in how she copes with being rebuffed in her efforts to save Lincoln. I love it in a way because it’s reflective of her character in how she’ll deal with situations like this. Go back to when she first encountered the Next Men and her actions there and this makes sense. Compound that with how she handled the length of time she was a slave, losing her foot and losing a lot more under her southern master and it really speaks well of her character as to what she can handle and endure in order to do what she believes is right. Though this issue ends horribly on a cliffhanger, I loved the thing as a whole because of what it covered and how well it did it. Toni’s long been one of the most consistent and interesting characters of the series and this storyline for her has really put her through her paces.
Release Notes:
This comiXology edition of Next Men comes with the main cover as released with the print edition and no other extras.
In Summary:
Next Men has a long history of being a cruel book when it comes to cliffhangers and this issue is no exception. Thankfully, it gives us a whole lot of meat as well so there’s plenty to work with when it comes to the story and what we get here lets the focus on Antonia Murchenson really shine. Reading this at the same time as the second Next Men phone book that dealt with her past and what she went through when she was recruited, and the tragedy she suffered, really shines a great light on her as a whole and makes her one of the strong, enduring characters of the series that you really wish would have something right go on for her. While I enjoyed the past issues with its multiple character focus, keeping things exclusively on Toni here was definitely the right choice and made for a great read.
Grade: B+
Readers Rating: [ratings]
Comixology Link
