Here we are at the end of this meta superhero story from Image entitled Reality Check.  Although I can’t say this is the best mini-series I’ve ever read, for what it is this book is enjoyable.  It hasn’t taken itself seriously and that is ever-present in this final issue. We start off where #3 left off.  Alison has her head in a guillotine and the Devil-Inside gives Will an ultimatum: he can either let Alison die, or let Dark Hour die.  Will doesn’t comply with either scenario, and challenges the Devil-Inside to a fight.  He draws upon a memory of being furious to channel into energy that ends up disarming Devil.  It’s after his brother was murdered, and he’s mad at himself because he realizes he wasn’t there for Alison after his brother died.  He ends up being able to stop the Devil-Inside from killing Alison thanks to his own fists and of course Dark Hour’s heroics.  Dark Hour ends up breaking Alison free and brings her to Will.  They reveal that they both have feelings for one another when Alison’s boyfriend DJ Skinner shows up.  The book gets darker here as Dark Hour knows that John (AKA DJ Skinner) actually hired someone to beat Will’s brother up.  John swears that he wanted the guy he hired just to beat Will’s brother up and not kill him, but obviously this enrages Will.

Things pretty much settle down and end as you would guess if you’ve read this story.  I won’t ruin it for you because I’m guessing if you’re reading this you’re interested in picking it up.  My same critique from last issue plagues this issue for me-some of the art didn’t do much for me when the characters were supposed to be far away.  Alison looks different on multiple occasions, and the detail that is lost in these occasions is disappointing.

As far as the storytelling goes, I think it was wrapped up in a pretty predictable but necessary fashion.  Overall, I think this was unfortunately the weakest of the series, and went by way too quick.  I felt the pace was just focused on ending the book and not a lot happened in getting there.  Some of the same things used like flashbacks in the previous issues was here, but I think the part saving Alison fell flat.  To me at least it felt rushed.

I did enjoy how it still isn’t taking itself seriously.  For example, when the cops show up after the fight between Will and the Devil-Inside, the cops ask who busted a hole in the wall of the clothing store they were in.  The Devil-Inside looks at him and says “Don’t look at me-I’m pretty sure it was the occupy fashion movement.”  If you’re a fan of meta stories, looking for a few laughs or for books that know what they are and don’t try to re-invent the wheel, then check this out.

Score: 3/5

Writer: Glen Brunswick Artist: Viktor Bogdanovic Publisher: Image Comics Price: $2.99 Release Date: 12/4/13