[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writers: Nalo Hopkinson and Dan Watters
Artist: Dominike “DOMO” Stanton
Colors: John Rauch
Letters: Deron Bennett
Summary
Uncle Monday gets lost in a library and then he gets lost in his own memories. The Dreaming is like that. Honestly, it is pretty heartbreaking.
Then, back in New Orleans apparently the whole swallowed by a turtle thing ended pretty quickly. The girls stand around and talk for a while. Spells are cast. Souls are saved. Shakpana gets his. The mistress quits talking to herself. The art is beautiful.
Positives
Look, this book has high quality artwork every single week by Domo Stanton. Seriously. Right in the middle of the book, when Uncle Monday is losing his mind, there are two splash pages that take the reader though his heartbreaking life. While the story that Hopkinson tells here is some of the best characterization in the whole series so far, it is still Stanton who steals the day. Below is part of one of the splash pages. It is brutal and honest and just stunning.
While I can not show you all of the splash pages, nor would I because I think it is best to see it for yourself, check out some of the excellent work that the team puts together during Uncle Monday’s trip through the library.
That is just a lot of fun. The hidden literary references are like an extra bonus. Check out the quotes. See what books are speaking. Time well spent
Negatives
Once again, this book suffers from a case of too many things going on. Maybe it is just me. I am a character driven guy. I like solid characters who carry the story. That is why Sandman was such a good book. You learned to love these characters. Here, I am in a constant state of “meh.” Just when I feel I am going to get into some deep place, there is a hard cut to something else. It is confusing because I feel like I constantly have to go back an issue or two for me to remember who is who and why that person is doing whatever it is s/he is doing. I don’t mind a complex story, but I shouldn’t need a guidebook to keep up.
Verdict
This is the end of an arc as I suspected it would be and there is some sort of resolution for Toya and Maggie and for Madame Erzulie and for Uncle Monday even. I think I will go back and read all six in a row to see how it stacks up that way, but for now, I am hopeful that the next part of the story, will have a narrative flow and spend some time letting us get to know and more importantly care, about these people.
