Every job comes to a close. Each pristine vacation has to end. And, eventually, most cases get closed. Goodbyes and endings aren’t always easy — especially if they don’t exactly wrap up as how we’d hoped or expected. But after three generally good issues (and a standout fourth issue), Blow Away has reached its own conclusion. Did Brynne crack the mystery behind the death of Blue (Andrew)? Was Red (Nick) to blame all along? And once the mystery’s over, how will our favorite videographer/amateur PI land?
Without revealing too much, Blow Away‘s last hurrah gave us what we needed for closure following this methodic, gripping slice of paranoid noir.
Again, I won’t directly address exactly what happens, but suffice to say the whole mystery does wrap up in a neat little package. Are there some downsides to it? Sure. I wish maybe we’d had another issue to let Brynne’s time back from the island to resonate a bit, and to offer more space for the final threads to align a little more carefully. But there’s clearly something to this pacing, and writer Zac Thompson does pull off his own Rear Window with Blow Away #5, with an especially terse bit of cat-and-mouse between Brynne and her boss/producer Matt. It’s a proper high point for the psychological aspects of this case, and an opportunity for that tension to play out in the most direct and streamlined manner possible. If anything, the focus on this issue (the Brynne and Matt stuff) was a continuation of what made this book great: the way all the interpersonal tension and drama cut through the massive landscapes and bleak vibes.
Ultimately, Blow Away works because not only does the Brynne-Matt dynamic respect the book’s focus on terse convos and displays of humanity, but Thompson plotted this story rather brilliantly. We had all the pieces we needed, like Brynne’s uncertainty about what she saw and just what was to gain from a pro hiker’s sudden death. Once that final bit of evidence is made clear, the whole thing snaps into one giant piece that proves quite satisfying (even if, once again, I’d wanted a touch more room for the story to occupy).
Courtesy of BOOM! Studios.
I think even more than the overarching sense of paranoia, and a seemingly unreliable narrator, it’s this function that’s especially important. We totally needed this brilliant “a-ha” moment that felt like a million old-timey noirs (and Sherlock Holmes stories), and it’s a hallmark of any great crime story to really and truly stick the landing. In the case of Blow Away specifically, that landing moved silently to align some big plot points and ideas and strike us with a heft and gusto that you’d want from a properly executed mystery.
But even the best-planned mystery tale can have some noticeable issues. Namely, a series of decisions from the art team (artist Nicola Izzo, colorists Francesco Segala and Gloria Martinelli, and letterer DC Hopkins) made me really aware of a massive shift in this book, and that was for both the betterment and minor hindrance of Blow Away. The scale of this book, as mentioned above, was unwaveringly huge. All of that stinging snow and desolate arctic landscapes felt like both a juxtaposition for this deeply personal mystery as well as a way to drive home the isolation and disconnect Brynne experienced. But Blow Away #5 mostly happened in the city, and that felt like a decision that complicated the story in a time when maybe it didn’t need that.
Courtesy of BOOM! Studios.
Don’t get me wrong, a big enough part of me really loved that move in perspective, and the way the book played with its own sense of space. It’s incredibly brave to do so at the finale, and it’s just another reason why Blow Away made big decisions to try and tell its story in this neat and textured way. Whether it’s in tight, deliciously awkward footage with Nick, how they tried to cast skyscrapers as giant mountains, and the continued interplay of light and shadow to foster mood and emotion, these noticeable changes were effective in bringing down the mood a bit and pulling us in even closer at a time when that needed to really happen. The continued focus on people and conversations, especially, allowed these ideas to feel less theoretical and to finally click in a different light and framework.
At the same time, I just plain missed the mountains. I think showing us the city meant a deliberate passing of time, and even as it was only a few weeks, it certainly played around with the continuity of this story in a way that stripped out some of that visceral immediacy. There were also some instances here that, regardless of setting, maybe felt a little too intimate and claustrophobic, and I wanted some of that actual sense of space to drive home the larger impact of these reveals or the interactions between people.
Courtesy of BOOM! Studios.
Blow Away did so much great work in balancing its intensely human focus with the connection to nature, and having lost that to an extent left me with a slight feeling of artificiality. As if I was acutely aware of how wrong the settings felt, and that certainly affected my engagement with these characters. (Brynne, especially, who I’m so used to seeing move around this unique setting.) It wasn’t really enough to take away what issue #5 did well, but it’s certainly an experience and change that highlights what this book does really well and maybe some of its inevitable downsides.
Which leads me to the $64,000 question: was Blow Away actually entertaining and satisfying? I’d say it was a warm cup of lush cocoa but without the marshmallows. Even if I had some issues with the pacing and the use of physical space here, the thing we needed to happen occurs as we see Brynne in a new light. Again, nary a spoiler, but Blow Away #5’s ending gives our lead some new direction and added texture that, much like the case, crystalizes our perceptions.
Is there a future for her in cracking mysteries? God, I’d like to see that. But even if there isn’t, Blow Away‘s biggest achievement may have been to tell an involved, multi-layered story that ends as directly and satisfyingly as a snow cone. So, say what you will of endings, but this one deserves our warmest wishes and fondest “adieu.”
You must be logged in to post a comment Login