I’ve jumped on and off of this series with reviews because I’ve found that checking in with each issue just isn’t needed. I’m back again though because this marks the beginning of the third story arc and possibly the final from J. Michael Straczynski. I’ve been waiting for this arc as it’s been hinted upon the most. It’s the final story that crossover between the two previous stories, but whereas the previous two were contained in their own segment, this story seems reliant upon the information presented in the other two stories.

It kicks off with our down and out P.I. Roy Chambers waiting to see Mr. Black. You’ll remember him as the mega rich dude from the first story that was searching for his kid or something. Well it turns out that his son is dead and what he wants to find is his son’s killer. Mr. Black and Roy have a conversation/pissing contest in which all of this is revealed. It does very little to reveal anything about the two characters though and is basically a scene that’s attempting to be clever and nothing more. It was an easy way to get the exposition out of the way.

From there Roy sets out to find everything he can about the murder of the prodigal son. Along the way we learn that Roy’s girlfriend is a dancer and that basically this is his last big chance to break them both out of the life they’re in.

Unfortunately the start of this arc isn’t very good. It’s dull as it repeats things we’ve previously read and since it relies on you having previously read the other two arcs it doesn’t make sense as to why it spends so much time reminding you. It also spends far too much time building up the dead son’s character and Roy’s envy towards him… it’s a bit too apparent as to what’s going to happen and that hasn’t been the case up until now. Granted it is the Twilight Zone so there could be a wicked twist, but we’ll just have to see.

The art continues to do a fine job of conveying the story. It’s deadly consistent. It’s so consistent that it factors into the dullness of this issue because it added nothing to the world in an attempt at keeping it all the same looking.

I might review the next issue, but I’ll definitely be back to review the conclusion. The story isn’t bad enough to stop reading, but it’s definitely not the grand finale that anyone was expecting after the first two arcs. Time will tell though.

Score: 3/5

Writer: J. Michael Straczynski Artist: Guiu Vilanova Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment Price: $3.99 Release Date: 10/22/14 Format: Print/Digital