This was another issue this week that I couldn’t have predicated the outcome of and it went in a very different way than I was guessing. That dude on the cover… take a close look… closer… closer… yeah let that sink in because it’s crazy what goes down in this issue. I’m going to go ahead and tell you right now that there are Spoilers, without them I would basically have a couple of half paragraphs and a score and I’m not wasting my time on that when there is so much to say about this issue. I’m going to start with the guy on the cover, he’s fucking magic. I mean that in the literal sense. He’s also the crocodile and he’s got a crazy ass grudge against Capt. Hook. When we last left Felix was about to be executed by Hook, but a ticking clock started up which freaked Hook out. It’s fantastic to watch this crazed genius become completely irrational and start firing blindly into the darkness. All his genius and strategy is completely lost in this moment. The Crocodile (I don’t know what else to call him) begins appearing and disappearing behind Hook until he throws some knives that pin him to a tree. The man looks like he’s on fire and he definitely has history with Hook. He bashes him in the face with a pocket watch and then frees Felix. That’s really all you need to know about the story since there are still other surprises in store.
Let’s talk about the writing as this issue is really split into two sections. We obviously get the resolution to the action we’ve been following, but this also closes out Felix’s chapter of the story. The second half is spent in the present with the interview which again is a great change-up for series. I don’t know if I’m crazy about the magical aspect of the story since everything else has been grounded in reality, but I’m going to trust Wiebe since he’s been in control of the story since the beginning and I don’t see him crashing it now. It’s definitely interesting and it played out very cool. Originally I thought it was going to be Peter to the rescue with some crazy awesome back up plan, but I was way off. It would be nice to see Peter have the upper hand in one of these instances with Hook though.
The art is exceptional from beginning to end. The burning Crocodile is awesome looking, but also scary as hell. It’s no wonder that Felix is scared of him and I’m sure that he’ll have more reasons in the future as well. There is a touching scene that reveals Felix’s backstory for the second half of the issue that could have been better. I won’t spoil it, but it’s basically Felix’s memories before the war and on the day that the war affected him for the first time. It’s very good, don’t get me wrong, but I think it needed splashes of older Felix to balance it out. That way you could see the pain that his life became while seeing the potential that it had before the war. It works, but I think it could have brought tears to people’s eyes with this added element.
This was another great issue and a damn fine way to close out Felix’s segment of the interview. I’m looking forward to the next Lost Boy and if you’ve been missing out on the series then you’ll have an opportunity to jump on with the next issue for sure. Do yourself one favor though and when the trade to this volume releases, pick it up. This is one hell of a read and I can’t wait to go back through the story arc from beginning to end.
Score: 4/5
Writer: Kurtis J. Wiebe Artist: Tyler Jenkins Publisher: Image and Shadowline Comics Price: $3.50 Release Date: 10/9/13