The three-part series A Vicious Circle finally comes to a close this week as Thacker and Ferris attempt to close the circle of their own making. The series has been amazing, with great art and a story that takes big swings at time travel. In the last issue, Hitler was killed and history changes, but is it for the better? More importantly, does Ferris care when all he wants is to get back to the life he had?
The first thing you might be wondering about is what is going on since I certainly felt that way. It has been over a year since the last issue, so I expect most will want to brush up on where we left off. It’s a factor in enjoying this finale, although it reads well, as if there wasn’t a gap at all.
When it comes to conflict, this issue leans heavily towards a Thacker versus Ferris showdown. The last issue revealed these two are from the future, and when they shot each other in the face while in a time machine, they unstuck themselves from time itself. Now, they kill each other, and they change timelines. At the start, they’re stuck in some prehistoric era, but soon they’re fighting and zipping to the future, the past, and back again.
These two hate each other for a few different reasons.
Credit: BOOM! Studios
This issue essentially has our characters reluctantly team up to fix a future of humanity’s own making. That accompanies an excellent montage of the two killing key figures in the past and seeing if that fixes things. Meanwhile, Thacker wants his wife back. That directly conflicts with Ferris, who wants them to focus on saving the future. The problem is that if you can’t die and you’re spurred to kill, it just sends you somewhere else.
Writer Mattson Tomlin has crafted a story about whether we should stick to our goals or try to make the best of them. Thacker and Ferris are at odds with what they should do, yet they are forever tethered to each other. This connects well with the series title and the very notion of fixing time itself.
That also relates to the final page, which suits these characters’ time loops. I’m still chewing on the ending, which seems too open-ended for my tastes, but it certainly connects with the series’ themes.
Bermejo continues to dazzle in art, using his painterly hyperrealistic visuals with more conventional comic book art here and there. The changes in style suit the time-jumping, which in turn helps keep the time jumps obvious. There’s also an cool effect with a zigzaggy panel with blue energy to convey a timeline change has taken affect.
A Vicious Circle ends today on a visual high note that will please fight-comic fans. Given the cinematic quality of the story and tight plotting in just three issues, it’s no surprise this is in development as a film.
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