Murder Falcon
“Extremity” left me wanting to see creator Daniel Warren Johnson put his considerable artistic talents toward a more interesting story for his next series. That is EXACTLY what has wound up happening with “Murder Falcon!” A balls-to-the-wall celebration of the intensity, awesomeness, and ridiculousness of Metal, it shows that style really can triumph over substance. Only when style takes the form of an eight-foot talking falcon with a gigantic metal arm.
In case you were wondering, that’s not a murder falcon. That’s Murder Falcon. First name, Murder. Last name, Falcon. And he has come from the realm known as The Heavy to save Earth from the wrath of its ruler, Magnum Khaos! He’s gathered an army of the monstrous Veldar and the only thing standing between him and the enslavement of our planet is the awesome power of Metal.
That’s going to be provided by Jake, who’s in a very bad place when he first encounters Murder Falcon. His band, Brooticus, was about to hit the big time until he got some life-changing news which caused him to break up the band and wreck his marriage. Now he’s got a chance to put it all right and it starts with getting the band back together!
I’m willing to bet that you probably have a good idea already whether or not “Murder Falcon” is the kind of series for you. If you’re still on the fence, then let me say that this is one of the rare series that’s worth picking up just for the art alone. Johnson’s art is still face-meltingly intense in its detail and inventiveness, but he’s also able to get the title’s larger theme across through it as well.
You see, if “Murder Falcon” has one weakness it’s that Johnson still has a little ways to go when it comes to actually writing comics. My big gripe with his previous series, “Extremity,” was how it presented its “War/Revenge is bad” idea in a way that offered no surprises. That’s still a little true here. Though there are more surprises to be found in Jake and Murder’s journey to defeat Khaos, the story is still pretty straightforward and fairly on-the-nose when it comes to talking about Metal’s power.
When it comes to SHOWING the power of Metal, that’s where this series delivers in spades! It’s one thing to see and hear Jake talk about his regrets with his bandmates and wife. To see them realized in the form of a Mammoth goring a fanged giant blue abomination is quite another. “Murder Falcon’s” power and appeal lies in the way that Johnson is able to take these familiar sentiments and realize them in an utterly compelling and inventive visual fashion.
It’s also fair to say that seeing Brooticus’ drummer Jimi get past her guilt at trying to kick Jake out of the band by getting on a jet-powered hovering drum platform and play a solo so righteous that it summons a Leviathan from San Francisco Bay looks insanely badass on its own terms. Johnson has showed that he has some intense artistic chops in “The Ghost Fleet” and the two volumes of “Extremity.” He shows here that he’s got what it takes to be one of the best in the industry. There are just so many crazy sights to be seen in this series that you might find yourself wondering if he can keep delivering the goods right up until the end.
Believe it, because the ending delivers one of the most emotional finales I’ve read all year. Johnson sells the emotion at the end of Jake’s personal struggle, there’s no doubt about that. What really got me — and will likely get anyone who’s got some affinity for Metal in them — is who’s there to greet him at the end. I won’t lie, I teared up a bit at the sight of this legend brought back for a moment on the page. There are plenty of worthy nods to the great legends of Metal in this series, but Johnson saved the best one for last.
Even if the story is a coathanger for Johnson to hang this awesomely garish tribute to the glory of Metal, “Murder Falcon” still makes for a great read. I can imagine some being turned off by that fact or the very idea of a giant falcon from another dimension who is powered by incredible guitar shredding. To them I say: Give this a chance anyway. There’s a lot of passion in Johnson’s work here and it might even make a believer out of you.