Reviews- CROSSED: WISH YOU WERE HERE VOL. 4 and CROSSED VOL. 10: BADLANDS- THE THIN RED LINE

CROSSED: WISH YOU WERE HERE VOL. 4 (Avatar Press, 2014; Hardcover)

Collects Crossed: Wish You Were Here Web comic Volume 4 Chapters 1-3 (originally posted on December 20, 2013- January 10, 2014)

Writer: Simon Spurrier

Artist: Fernando Melek

Colorist: Juanmar

This is the finale to the long-running free web comic. By the time that it was done I was relieved to be done with it. Shaky is an unlikable leading man, and that is the point, but if the reader cannot identify, sympathize, or empathize with the star then the story becomes a chore. I was waiting for redemption or some form of self sacrifice or at the very least some self serving action, but I don't feel like I get any of the above. This series ended with a whimper instead of a bang.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 3 out of 5.

The OCD zone- Avatar Press hardcovers are Direct Market exclusives these days.

Paper stock: Good weight glossy coated stock.

Binding: Perfect bound.

Hardback cover notes: Avatar Press hardcovers have no dustjacket, with the image being part of the paper casewrap. They use high quality super thick lamination which will provide a lifetime of reading enjoyment. 

Sorry about the bad cover scans. I couldn't find any actual cover images for the hardcovers anywhere online, so I scanned these two myself. I was tired and they aren't straight. Oh well, at least the true cover images are available online now. You're welcome, Internet.

CROSSED VOL. 10: BADLANDS- THE THIN RED LINE (Avatar Press, 2014; Hardcover)

Collects Crossed: Badlands #50-56 (cover dates March 25- June 18, 2014)

Writer: Garth Ennis

Artist: Christian Zanier

Colorist: Digikore Studios

Sometimes questions are better than answers, at least as far as I am concerned. The end of John Carpenter's The Thing. The end of Watchmen. For Crossed the question has always been not what happens at the end, but what happened at the beginning? Series creator Garth Ennis returns to set the record straight without really telling you the answer. I like that. The answers given only provide more questions.

These are some of the best Crossed comics published in quite some time. Things seem to have become more story and character driven, something not necessary for a visceral experience like Crossed. Fortunately things “return to the roots” here, leaving me cackling like Bart and Lisa Simpson at the end of an Itchy And Scratchy Show cartoon.

So Crossed has survived another round of being crossed off of my to buy list. That is not easy to do these days!

Junk Food For Thought rating: 3.75 out of 5.

The OCD zone- I used to list every single variant in The OCD zone. The most maddening to do was always the Avatar Press books, as there are a shit ton of variants and there was never any indication which cover came from where. I used to sit on the Internet wasting sometimes close to an hour digging all of this stuff up. I virtually bled for my virtual art. I am glad that I don 't do that anymore.

Paper stock: Good weight glossy coated stock.

Binding: Perfect bound.

Hardback cover notes: Avatar Press hardcovers have no dustjacket, with the image being part of the paper casewrap. They use high quality super thick lamination which will provide a lifetime of reading enjoyment.