The Massive #6 Review - Mobile Edition

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The Massive #6 Review
By Zak Edwards
November 13, 2012 - 11:54

Dark Horse Comics
Writer(s): Brian Wood
Penciller(s): Gary Brown
Colourist(s): Dave Stewart
Letterer(s): Jared K. Fletcher
Cover Artist(s): J.P Leon
$3.50 US

Reading this issue of The Massive made me feel bad about myself, that’s probably the best way to put it. I was so excited for this series, very very excited to watch what Brian Wood came out with after he finished DMZ, and this series did not disappoint at first, perhaps it still doesn’t. The fact of the matter is the whole thing feels really disjointed, sparse, and I find myself having a hard time getting through an issue. It’s like I’m missing issues (but I’m not) or even pages (which I don’t think I am). And with the back issues currently away from me, I can’t really go back and look at what I’m missing. Maybe it’s made for the trade, I don’t know.

Really this is no fault of the series, which I think is progressing nicely. Last month’s issue was much easier to digest and was focused on characters in an easier fashion. Here we focus on Mag, a former child soldier who now serves as a bit of an enforcer on the increasingly morally ambiguous Kapital. Perhaps it’s that the ethical center is a bit tired here; the issue opens with the ‘stealing bread-still a thief’ debate that doesn’t really say anything and moves on as if something profound has happened. The characters become mouthpieces in these moments, something DMZ did to great effect, but here, without an obvious story framework, the world, like the story, becomes aimless. While the second half of the issue picks up speed, the front half is loaded with nothingness pretending to be something and, after a gunfight, the strange wrap-up makes this one-shot story seem like an after thought. Perhaps Wood is wearing too much on his sleeve, perhaps there are other projects that beg more attention, or perhaps I just can’t sit back and read a good freakin’ comic anymore, but The Massive is leaving this reader too adrift.

Maybe it is made for the trade.

I’ll let Santa know.

Grade: 6.5/10 I can see why this series is still good, I just can't figure out how to figure that out for myself.