Welcome to the Comic Bastards end of the year list. Similar to our group reviews, each of the participating writers will be giving their picks for their best and also worst comics of 2017. Without further ado, here are our #3 picks for Best of 2017.
Click here to read #4 on the list!
Click here to read #5 on the list!
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Y'know as much as I've loved every issue of Plastic, I'm glad it's ending here at #5. A big part of what makes this book so damn engrossing is the uniquely skewed perspectives of Edwyn and the narrative itself. As such, one of the biggest problems we could encounter as readers would be getting used to those perspectives. So, ending it before that has a chance to happen is the way to go. That being said, is the ending actually any good? Is it a predictable conclusion? Or, does it do something unexpected yet inevitable? Well to be honest, the answer to all three of those questions is "yes." At first, I was almost a little disappointed in how quickly and even perhaps uneventfully things seemed to be wrapping up. And then, right before the end, something happened. It's simultaneously the type of thing I never expected for a second that this book would do and the final defining reinforcement of who Edwyn really is. But, that's all I'm going to say about it. Because, there's no way I'm going to even come close to spoiling that moment.
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Writer Doug Wagner teams up with artists Daniel Hillyard and Laura Martin for a chilling crime series in the PLASTIC trade paperback available this October. It collects issues #1-5.
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This is a bit of a different issue for the series. The first half is almost entirely dedicated to action, and though there is still time for some really nice character moments, none of them are as revelatory as in previous installments. That is to say, the characters and tone have all been properly set, and now we're just watching the events unfold. On the one hand, it does make for a technically less substantial read. But on the other, there's still plenty of good stuff in here, and it does still build off of what's come before. Plus, with the series conclusion right around the corner, the real purpose of this issue is to set up the big finale. And in that regard, Plastic #4 is hugely successful.
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Ever since initially glimpsing the preview pages at the end of the last issue, I've been both excited for as well as a little apprehensive about this one. Why? Because, I knew going in that the first scene (or at the very least, one of the first scenes) would involve sexual assault. It's a very serious subject matter that can very easily be mishandled and used exploitatively, even when the creator doesn't intend it, simply by way of not being familiar enough with how to responsibly look at and talk about it. Now with that being said, how does Plastic #3 handle it? Well, first let me note that I am by no means an expert on this, so everything I'm saying should be taken with a grain of salt. Anyway, while I'm honestly not convinced that its inclusion was entirely necessary to tell this story, I do see why Wagner did it. Furthermore, I personally found something quite powerful about how Edwyn reacts to and talks about it throughout the issue. To me, it's the final proof that this book is earnestly exploring themes of love, good, and evil through a lens that is so commonly associated with the perversion of, or in some cases the outright disagreement with, those same themes. What we're ultimately left with is a story that's romantic in the same way that Palahniuk is romantic. And, I love it.
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Holy cow, I was not quite expecting this to be the direction this book went, but I'm so glad that it is. Last time I talked about how I didn't feel like this was a mean-spirited story, and frankly, this second issue only reinforces that. It's actually kind of amazing how much this issue makes you feel like Edwyn is an actually good guy that you want to root for despite the horrendously gruesome things he has the capacity to do. By the end of it, even his conversations with himself felt closer charming than anything else. It makes me wonder if Wagner's perhaps making some kind of statement about mental health. There's no denying that there's a huge stigma against people with mental disabilities, but here we have a protagonist who (even though he can and has taken human life in very violent ways) kind of just wants to love, laugh, live his life, and be left alone. Who cares if Virginia is a sex doll? She makes Edwyn happy, and people only get hurt when they try and mess with that. But, Edwyn is only "useful" when he's dangerous, and mental illness really does tend to be represented in much the same way in the media. That is to say, only when it's dangerous.
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I've been looking forward to getting my hands of Plastic ever since Image announced it back in January. The premise is one of those that pretty much guarantees that the story can only be a bad situation turning into a far worse one, but it'll so weird and twisted the whole time through that it kind of has to be worth at least checking out. I was completely expecting someone else to have called it for review as soon as it went up on the spreadsheet, but that didn't happen. So, here I am. And after reading through Plastic #1, it's actually not what I expected. Well, okay, it's exactly what I expected, but the execution and presentation are different. Although let me be clear, that's by no means a bad thing. What I'd thought was there'd be this incredibly thin veneer of "everything is so wonderful, and there can't possibly be anything bad on the horizon." A candy coating to the dark chocolate that is this book, if you will. Nope, no facade whatsoever. From the very first panel, it's abundantly clear what kind of story this is.
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It's honestly been a while since Image had a title that really caught my attention, but damn... Plastic sounds interesting as fuck. I'll be checking it out for sure.
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