Okay, so that thing I couldn’t talk about at the end of issue #3… it really happened! This book has got some balls that is for sure. Ina strange way issue #3 also ended that chunk of Iris as this issue sees all of the crossover stories converging into one. The narration is different since our main character is dead and all and what could have been an interesting and strong transition turns out to be pretty shaky.
The story starts off with Villone taking over Diane’s company in the wake of her death. That’s right this rollercoaster just keeps going. That’s literally every executive assistant employer dead now and Villone continues with his master plan. At this point though you have to call bullshit since this guy is taking over company after company and each one has been after a mysterious death. The Feds or someone would be all over this guy and they’re not. At any rate, it becomes clear that Iris is being controlled by a chip and that her actions are not her own. After so many issues of Iris being painted the villain, it’s kind of hard to sympathize with her at this point.
She can feel the chip having less and less effect over her and she knows that Villone is aware of her change of heart. It’s not really clear why he’s aware of it, but he is. He sends her and his other two executive assistants on a mission and things get messy as Iris is counting down the minutes before her betrayal.
This is another, “If this ending sticks, it’s amazing”issues. I have a feeling that this cliffhanger will not simply be what it is though. If you don’t hate Villone yet you should, but not for the right reasons as he’s just one up’ing the other villains of the story. He’s actually only just appeared in the series and though he’s done some messed up things he’s just not to that level of hatred yet. I hate him because he’s an underdeveloped character and nothing he’s doing makes any business sense.
This is another, “If this ending sticks, it’s amazing”issues. I have a feeling that this cliffhanger will not simply be what it is though. If you don’t hate Villone yet you should, but not for the right reasons as he’s just one up’ing the other villains of the story. He’s actually only just appeared in the series and though he’s done some messed up things he’s just not to that level of hatred yet. I hate him because he’s an underdeveloped character and nothing he’s doing makes any business sense.
In general this issue was a good experiment, but the groundwork needed to be laid sooner in the series. Having Iris take over on the narration was a strong shift and it almost made me forget what book I was reading. This issue plus the next come across more like their own two issue mini that wraps up the three issue crossovers and frankly if that had done that it would have worked better. Part of me really liked this book, but I was left with too many questions. How long was Iris under control for? Why should I care that she’s being betrayed? How the hell do they know that she’s swaying from the programing when she is still treading alone as if everything was normal?Just too many plot holes in this issue that I think could have been handled better. Still as far as crossovers go I’m really interested in seeing how this bad boy ends and hopefully it won’t disappoint.
Score: 3/5