“How Do You Plea?”
Creative Staff:
Story: Christopher Cantwell
Art: Adam Gorham
Colors: Kurt Michael Russell
Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
What They Say:
The trial for the fate of humanity concludes, but not before the Blue Flame calls himself to the witness stand. Worlds and realities blur into one as the Flame interrogates Sam on every facet of their shared life. Dee’s sister goes into labor and Yarix appears in Milwaukee, then just like that… the verdict is in. Has the cosmos judged humans innocent or guilty?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The final installment of Blue Flame arrives just under four months since the previous issue, which in itself had a bit of a gap between installments. It’s unfortunate for those reading the series as it comes out but it reinforces for me that this is a series that will fare much better in collected form with what it’s trying to do. Christopher Cantwell takes us through the finale pretty well with an ending that makes sense even if it may not be what some want – but is clearly set up through the way this whole series operated. Adam Gorham made a lot of it really fun as well, with the creativity of the outer space sequences with all that we encounter there, to the more humdrum mundane material of Sam.
Serving as a kind of blended piece, we get to see how events unfold with a few things going on. Sam is now waiting on the sentencing phase of his trial having pleaded guilty – much to the surprise of his lawyer, the judge, and everyone else. The judge is inclined to take into consideration things learned through the article Reed put together as it kind of fleshes out some of what he’s been going through. At the same time, the lawyer makes it clear he needs a thorough psych evaluation so that it can help mitigate some of the sentencing side of things, but he’s expecting some jail time to happen with all that unfolded. And because the prosecutors want the maximums as well to make their point.
What we get on the flip side of that is Sam being taken for the final part of the intergalactic trial taking place afterward, where he’s essentially questioned by himself as the fleet has arrived to carry out the job of destroying humanity. It’s an engaging sequence (more so when reading past issues with it) as we see more of what’s been eating at Sam all this time and his state of mind with what he does, how he feels about others, and what he truly wants out of life. It’s confusing for the prosecutor but it’s also what the judges want from this as well in order to understand the complicated humanity they’re dealing with. It’s not given a “clear” ending some may like, though it really is, as it shifts to Sam finding out that Dee’s giving birth and that’s wrapped up with a call to Reed as well along the way to bring some sense of closure and promise there. It’s an uplifting ending overall, and clear on it, but I can see how some may want something more concrete.
In Summary:
I really enjoyed this series overall and already have a sense of jealousy of those that will be reading the complete series collection for it that’s coming out. There was a lot to enjoy in reading these individual issues and being able to think about the events of each and piecing it all together. But there’s also something to be said for being able to read it all in one sitting and getting a very different flow and feel for it. Cantwell has put together a thoughtful and engaging piece without easy answers for a lot of it as the characters really go through some difficult choices. Gorham’s artwork was pretty great for this work as well, with a really great sense of design for some of the science fiction elements but also a strong eye for capturing the mundanity of Sam’s life on Earth and what everyone was struggling with in their day-to-day lives. I’m really glad that it had the room to breathe with ten issues instead of being rushed and crammed into few ones, and that we got to follow some of the dangling subplots as well. Definitely worth the time and investment.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: Vault Comics
Release Date: December 7th, 2022
MSRP: $3.99
