Canthastius this.
Creative Staff:
Story: Randy Stradley
Art: Doug Wheatley
What They Say:
In the ruins of a once-thriving city, King Tiger battles alone against the Dragon and its brood. It’s a fight he must win if he is to confront the most damning secret of his life—a secret made monstrous, all-devouring flesh. If Tiger falls, so does the world!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The King Tiger series has been an interesting one, especially coming from the backup series that was had in the Blackout miniseries before. With the penultimate installment of it, we get the expected regrouping, action, and planning for what’s to come in the finale setup along with a little nudge or two about what’s involved. For the most part, I’ve liked what I’ve read but I’ve also looked at it as very light fare in a way that other recent revivals have been. They’ve been decent yet still feel like an opportunity lost to do something unique or new with it, to put a fresh spin on it rather than just feel like an extension of the past into the present – but without the past really connected to it.
With this issue, it’s mostly about the fast movements and survival. Tiger is still being held by his father as part of the necessary sacrifice to Canthastius, who is ravaging the area in a big way. Unfortunately for the residents of the area, Project Black Sky has nothing operative in the area so it’s just the National Guard and King Tiger that can deal with it. Tiger naturally does manage to get out on his own and deal with his father’s main underlings and that means several pages devoted to a fight sequence with characters that are just red shirts in the end. It’s well choreographed and Wheatley makes it fun enough to read. Where it’s salvaged some in terms of story though is Milo’s arrival on the scene, even if his rifle isn’t going to cut it against these supernatural beasties. But considering how worried he was before about this adventure at all, just getting him into the thick of things like this works.
Rikki doesn’t get a whole lot of time here overall and part of what makes up her time is her frustration with being kept out of the loop on things. And rightly so, even if it plays to the old trope of the significant other being protected like this. She’s certainly the type to get involved herself and there are some decent moments for her, but mostly the whole thing of it seems to revolve around her being in the right place at the right time for Tiger to reveal that Canthastius is actually his mother. Considering how little real exploration of his heritage there’s been so far in this series, that feels out of left field and more of a shock point than something well played. It’s not bad and it fits with the nature of the book, but it simply doesn’t click well for me with how forced it feels.
In Summary:
While King Tiger was never a favorite of mine from back in the day I really liked the backup feature we had previously and most of the first issue of this miniseries. As it’s progressed, though, it feels like it’s moved away from the interesting character pieces and potential for supernatural exploration to something more monster of the miniseries with a large threat in place. It’s well illustrated, the dialogue flows well, and the overall pace of the book works. But it’s not something that we haven’t seen before far too many times. At a time when characters get a chance to truly be reinvented, King Tiger could have been brought to life in any number of ways. This works as a continuation of the past and perhaps there are enough fans for it. I’m curious as to how it ends, but I’m not feeling the book beyond that unless it opts for something really creative in the story department.
Grade: B-
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: October 14th, 2015
MSRP: $3.99
