TY Review: Last Stop on the Red Line #4
[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writer and Colorist: Paul Maybury
Artist: Sam Lotfi
Letters: Adam Pruitt
Reviewed by: Tony Farina
Summary
Look, I know it says that there may be spoilers in this review, but honestly, I just can’t do it to you dear reader. Last Stop on the Red Line #4 ends. I will say that here. There are answers. I can say that here. Mig and Yousef do things. Zev and Wolf may or may not be real. I can’t say much more. Seriously, you would hate me if I did.
Positives
Last Stop on the Red Line #4 is so well written. There is ZERO fat. Paul Maybury is not interested in you being distracted by side stories. Everything, and I mean everything, is essential to this book’s success.
Seriously, look at that cover. Go up and look at it. Sam Lofti is simply amazing. The best thing is, his brilliant work does not stop on the cover. Lucky for you dear reader, he does the whole book and the whole series. Beyond just his poserizing covers, has has weaved magic and madness and reality into one story that has held up over this series. As things took bizarre, often time travelish turns, Lofti just made it all seem totally normal. For example you will see a normal looking bloke and a werewolf. Is the normal bloke, who happens to be a cop, stressed out over arresting a werewolf? He is not? Why? Two reasons: 1. That is how things go in this world and 2. Sam Lofti drew it so…
Negatives
I said in my interview with the guys from this book that I was worried that four issues was not going to be enough time to tell this story. I fear that my worry has come true. That is not to say that this book is bad, it is far from bad, but, it really needed more room to stretch it’s legs. There are so many characters here that they all feel a bit under served.
I miss John Rauch’s colors on this. Maybury does an excellent job doing it himself, but it is different. Not necessarily bad, but noticeable.
Verdict
I certainly feel that this book is worth sitting down with in one go. It was hurt by the long waits between issues 2 and 3 and 3 and 4. The reader is expected to hold a lot of information in his/her head over months and months as it is, but then to take a 4 part mini-series, that should have been 6 parts at least and then stretch it out over 7 months does it no favors. Still, I highly recommend this and urge you to pick up all four issues individually or pick up the TPB when it comes out in a few months. The writing is tight and the art is beautiful. Isn’t that a near perfect comic book combination?
