Review: Lucas Stand #5

October 31, 2016

By Robert Larson

In this, the penultimate issue of Lucas Stand, one of the series’ major problems is front and center: the confusing narrative. Things seem to happen from out of nowhere, and characters I’m supposed to recognize suddenly appear and say things about the plot that totally change our understanding of it, but without any other clues to suggest those changes were in the offing. Stuff happens and we don’t understand why, and since the series is almost over it doesn’t seem like any nuance is really going to be injected into this. It’s a shame, because the premise had some initial value. Warning: I will be discussing spoilers here.

Review: Lucas Stand #4

September 27, 2016

By Robert Larson

Lucas Stand just can’t seem to hit a winning formula in a given issue. In the first few issues, the central tension of working for hell and leaving behind a lot of collateral damage was undercut by the fact that some cheap writing undermined those consequences. For once, that’s not a problem here; instead, the basic premise of each has finally worn thin, so that all of the emotional baggage of Lucas with his father is so muted that it doesn’t evoke much response. In other words, too little, too late. Warning: I will be discussing spoilers here.