The world is ending, a giant sentient brain is traveling between dimensions, and Cave Carson no longer has his cybernetic eye. Just great. The odds are not in the heroes’ favor, but you know they’ll win. Right?
Writer: Jon Rivera
Artist: Michael Avon Oeming (Colors by Nick Filardi)
Publisher: DC Comics
So what’s it about?
Why does this book matter?
If you dig comics that are straight up fun, weird, and willing to take big chances then you’re most likely a prime DC Young Animal fan. The books spinning out of Gerard Way’s editorial guidance have been all of those things and more. Visually, the most stunning has to be Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye and once again, this issue is no different!
Fine, you have my attention. What’s good about it?
Writer Jon Rivera opens this issue with two aliens enjoying a picnic on some alien world. They seem to be in love as one alien gives the other a special ring. An odd opening since we have no idea who these creatures are, but stick with it because Rivera makes this scene pay off and then some. The issue cuts back to the utter chaos Cave and his compatriots are enduring which includes some crazy psychedelic time jumping and some fast thinking as Cave’s car can barely hold together. The main story is fast paced, cutting between some utterly gross yet awesome action and some key story work when it comes to the villain’s plan. I can’t pretend I understand what is going on exactly, but really that’s part of the allure of this series.
Aside from the ridiculous missile top this is totally normal.
Michael Avon Oeming and Nick Filardi continue to do excellent work with this series. The smash cut from angelic alien picnic to utter chaos is perfect as the gutters are covered in Ben-Day dots and zigzag craziness. The villainous brain…thing, looks positively gross and strange with its weird little arms and colorful bits. The book is always changing visually, from wavy panels, to more conventional, and then a layout might pop in with triangles drawing your eye downward. It’s like a visual jazz that’s hard to ever pin down, which helps disorient the reader.
And then a flipping brain gets cut out of of a head. Seriously, this sequence of events is awesome in the goriest of ways. The fact that it goes from gross to grosser is a testament to Oeming, Filardi, and Rivera working together like a well oiled machine. There’s stuff in this book you’ve never seen before and probably won’t ever again.
What the fuuuuuu…
It can’t be perfect can it?
I’m the first to admit not understanding what the hell is going on can be a detriment to the story. Essentially crazy shit is going down and the characters are attempting to stop said shit from happening. What is happening, and how they’re time hopping make little sense, and I think that’s the point. That said, it’s sometimes so disorienting it’s hard to know what to feel.
Is It Good?
A visual jazz you can never pin down, the creative team is firing on all cylinders creating a story never seen before and never to be replicated again.
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