By Dustin Cabeal
My qualms with the first three issues of Cobber still stand in this fourth issue of the five-issue series. It’s a story that’s been told before which isn’t the issue. Every story can be boiled down to being the same story or type of story told over and over. What sets stories aside is their characters, presentation, and entertainment level, to name a few things.
The issue with Cobber is that none of the characters are being developed. They’re all archetypes which is very one-dimensional. Cobber is the hero dude that’s rolled into town and is going to save them, and the rest are either villains or McGuffins. In this issue, there’s a predictable death that didn’t particularly make sense in how and why it happened. I knew it would happen, but then when it did, it was lackluster. Cobber gives some backstory about the guns and jacket he has, and I found myself wanting to read that story instead. Sure, technically this is that story, but it’s not. This is a sidebar to that story. The backstory is far more interesting, and so it was a jarring experiencing to be told something interesting in this world, but not get to experience it.
The dialogue is still pretty basic. It’s not terrible but has plenty of exposition. There are times when there isn’t any exposition, but then the characters leave you wondering what they’re talking about instead of naturally progressing with the story. Like referencing something you don’t know, but then never filling you in. I’m sure it will come later in the story, but will it be as powerful as it’s been teased?
The artwork is still not for me. I don’t know how to describe it, but it's almost too circular. There’s hardly a straight line in the series. Everything is at an angle or bubbly. The hair, in particular, is strange. You can see an example on the cover. It’s competent, but it’s rough. There use of black still washes out a lot of the details and makes a lot of it look the same.
With only one more issue left in the series, I’ll give Cobber that last chance, but it doesn’t seem like there’s even the chance to wrap this series enjoyably. We’ll see, but if you read the first three issues, any feelings you had will likely be the same or amplified with this fourth issue of Cobber.
Score: 2/5
Cobber #4
Creator: Hayden Fryer
Publisher: Siberian Productions