I tell you what, I would love to sit down with this whole team and just pick their brains. Dean Haspiel, Mark Waid, J.M. DeMatteis, and Mike Cavallaro have put one of the best books in current comics on the shelves today. Those guys backed up by Red Circle have only delivered quality storytelling for the past four months. I know that it’s not always good to bring up financial issues in a review, but for the bang that readers are getting every month from The Fox, the buck is totally worth it. Especially if you want to go into the ridiculous prices that people are being asked to pay nowadays. I know specifically that there was a certain comic book publisher (who shall remain nameless) that put out a couple of issues of one of their relaunches last month for $4.99 and $5.99. I never thought that I’d see the day that comic book prices were ever that high. I remember thinking that $2.99 was a lot. And I’m still not completely sold on $3.99. Sorry, lots of numbers this week. Anyway, the point is that the content that is being offered by Red Circle is way above the current standard of the word “good”. The big guys could afford to take some lessons from the smaller publishers. We finally get to see The Fox take on the King of Diamonds! Unfortunately the Queen is nowhere to be found. Will The Fox be able to handle him himself? Not to mention that The Marvel and Inferno are having a little spat of their own. This issue is all over the place.
But in the backup story we see that The Shield and his “frien-emies” attempt to take on this mysterious monster that stopped them all in their tracks last month. Plus, the monster’s origin is revealed. You won’t believe how everything turns out in the end.
If you folks don’t mind, I’m going to talk about the art and the script all here at the same time. They are so completely in sync with each other after all. The dialogue does its best job yet during the outrageous fight scenes and big reveals in this issue. I couldn’t think of a better way to tie these two art forms together. Mark’s words along with Dean’s story and pencils really draw a good picture (forgive the pun) of the perfect ensemble. And I definitely want to make sure that I always point out how funny this book is. That is definitely what puts me over that very thin line between like and love. And if you want to point out specific panels that display Dean’s very creative artistic abilities, there’s a page, I think it’s ten or so, that really stands out. It really “cooks”.
Now that we’ve finally reached this point in the arc, I think that it’s safe to say that this may be the best example of tie-in use that I’ve seen in a while. The backup by J.M. DeMatteis and Mike Cavallaro really stands out this month. If you’ve been wondering where all of this was going, well you’re about to find out. And let me tell you, disappointment isn’t a possibility.
I just love the classic feel of this book. You don’t get to see enough “comic book” feeling comics anymore. Everything seems so forced now. It’s nice to see that there are still books out there that depend on good storytelling and strong dialogue instead of the ever aggravating shock factor. I’m so tired of being shocked. I think that it’s safe to say that I’m shocked out. Anyway, pick up The Fox #4. You can at least count on one thing for New Comic Book Day.
Score: 5/5
Writer: Mark Waid Artist: Dean Haspiel Publisher: Archie/Red Circle Price: $2.99 Release Date: 2/5/14