It’s time for another Image rundown!

I know it’s getting old at this point, but there are a lot of Image titles that I follow.  To the point where the trade paperbacks I get start to pile up in my review queue after a while.  I have things that I want to say about them, but there’s always something newer or shinier that grabs my attention.  It’s not the best explanation, I know.  Except that I’ve been playing through “Resident Evil:  Revelations 2” for the past week and there’s been plenty of shiny stuff in the shadows to distract me there (along with the usual mix of zombie and biological monstrosity murder as well).  With that said, I’ve got some thoughts to share on the latest volumes of “East of West,” “Descender,” “Minimum Wage,” “Outcast,” “Saga,” “Luther Strode,” and “Southern Bastards” after the break.

With “Secret Wars” in the rearview mirror, Jonathan Hickman can now get back to his creator-owned work.  Well, “East of West” and the two new titles he’s preparing for later this year.  Vol. 4 is one of the stronger entries in this title as Hickman and artist Nick Dragotta work hard in advancing all of the main plot threads in play in grand fashion.  We get surprise revelations about previous events in the series, new treachery emerging from established relationships, an action-packed silent issue, and dialogue that strikes the right balance between portentous and funny.  Death’s journey to reunite his family may have been the emotional core of this series at first, but vol. 5 shows that pretty much everyone in this series has a story worthy of telling and of our attention.

I’m not entirely convinced that’s the case with Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen’s “Descender,” but its second volume is a step in the right direction after the hype behind the first volume failed to win me over.  Vol. 2 splits its attention between Tim-21, Tesla, and Dr. Quon who have been captured by the machine terrorist group known as the Hardwire for the knowledge in the young android’s head.  Meanwhile, we’re introduced to a machine bounty hunter who has a personal connection to Tim-21 that will lead him to the scene of chaos on the planet Gish and a cyborg cult.  Most of the cast still still feel like they are stuck in their roles as dictated by the sci-fi genre playbook, but there are some interesting additions to the world by way of the cyborgs and the *ahem* fleshing out of the Hardwire’s home base.  I’d feel better about the overall trajectory of this series, however, if it didn’t embrace such a familiar trope as the basis for its cliffhanger ending.

There was another sci-fi series from Image that arrived with a ton of hype that didn’t win me over at first.  After five volumes of “Saga,” however, I’m now fully onboard with it.  Particularly with how vol. 6 satisfyingly delivers on the cliffhanger from the previous volume that had Hazel separated from her now-reunited parents.  Hazel is now attending preschool in a prison camp on Landfall while her grandmother watches out for her, while Marko and Alana are trying their best to first:  track their daughter down, and second:  rope in the necessary help to rescue her.  In other words, it’s the usual winning mix of adventure, humor, vulgarity, and I-didn’t-see-that-bit-of-sexuality-coming that longtime readers have come to expect from the series.  It also has what is probably the least traumatic cliffhanger in the history of the series.  Though, I find myself more concerned for the fate of The Will after this volume as, in addition to his mental drug-addiction issues, he clearly let himself go between volumes.

This latest volume of “Minimum Wage” offers more Earthbound relationship drama as perpetually-struggling cartoonist Rob Hoffman continues his efforts to find some kind of success in his career and love life.  The volume’s subtitle “So Many Bad Decisions” mainly refers to the latter as Rob hooks up with a goth girl who kisses like a pencil sharpener and uses their sex life as material for her attempt at stand-up comedy.  Oh, and he also gets back with his ex-wife Sheila which… actually isn’t as painful an experience as I was expecting.  Some of the stuff creator Bob Fingerman does here can feel self-indulgent — like when Rob hits it off with podcaster/comedian Marc Maron — but there’s still some genuine humanity in his dense storytelling.  It’s not clear whether or not there will be a third volume of this series coming from Image anytime soon, though I’d certainly be up for it as Mr. Hoffman’s struggles have made for mighty fine entertainment so far.

That Fingerman came to Image at all was down to the efforts of one of his biggest fans (and disciples, I guess you could say), Robert Kirkman who is also back with artist Paul Azaceta for the third volume of “Outcast.”  Vol. 3 effectively ends on a crisis point for the series as amateur exorcist Kyle Barnes finds himself at the mercy of his demonic enemies.  Before that, there’s plenty of drama to be had as Kyle exorcises a demon from his sister with great difficulty and drama, Reverend Anderson’s faith is shaken even more, and the mysterious Sidney maneuvers things into place for the Great Unification but not without a few hitches.  This is still an involving tale that Kirkman and Azaceta are telling as its supernatural elements are balanced nicely with the human family drama at the center of it.  My main complaint now is that, three volumes in, we’re still in the dark about some key aspects of the series.  Just what is an Outcast?  What’s the big deal behind this Great Unification?  I get the feeling we’re heading towards some answers regarding these things for vol. 4, so there will be certain expectations attached to its arrival early next year.

I mention expectations because I was hoping that there would be a meaningful amount of story crammed into the final volume of the “Luther Strode” series amidst the gory spectacle of its fisticuffs.  The short version:  There wasn’t.  While “The Legacy of Luther Strode” has its title character talk a decent game about finding a better way to deal with his antagonists than by simply killing them, it’s all pretty much window dressing next to the amazing fight scenes rendered by Tradd Moore.  Make no mistake:  Moore is an action storyteller par excellence and his work here with the many fights Strode engages in puts the efforts of most other artists to shame.  Problem is that his best work in this concluding miniseries is in the first few issues.  Luther’s confrontation with Cain should’ve been the apex of carnage for the series and it winds up being just run-of-the-mill compared to what we’ve seen before.  Writer Justin Jordan has a tremendous artistic partner in Moore, and I hope he steps up his game to be worthy of this partnership if they decide to continue it after this volume.

The partnership between writer Jason Aaron and artist Jason Latour on “Southern Bastards” is strong enough that the former clearly trusted the latter enough to write an issue of this series.  It’s about Eugene “Materhead” Maples, his history, and the responsibility he feels for the beating inflicted on Tad, the little kid who got to know the doomed Earl Tubb in the first volume.  This story feels of a piece with the other five issues collected here which focus on various other members of the cast as the Craw County Runnin’ Rebs prepare to face off against their nemesis Wetumpka County at Homecoming.  If you’ve read Aaron’s “Scalped,” this is the same approach he took with the second volume of the series, “Casino Boogie.”  It works just as well here as things don’t go as you’d expect for the Rebs’ coach and local crime boss, Euless Boss, while we FINALLY get the introduction to Earl’s daughter and war hero, Roberta Tubb, that’s been teased for the past two volumes.  “Homecoming” is another solid entry in this gritty, deep-fried Southern experience even as I wait for it to finally hit its stride and deliver the revisionist take on the “one (white) man cleans up a town” trope that it’s been promising for going on three volumes now.