Crossover #13
Elle, Ryan, and Donny ride to the rescue as Pendleton prepares to get involved in Crossover #13, by writer Donny Cates, artist Geoff Shaw, colorist Dee Cuniffe, and letterer John J. Hill. This is an altogether surprising issue that sends the book into its next phase expertly.
Basically, this issue is narrated by Donny and sees all the characters meet up at the baseball field. A pitched battle occurs; one who sees Cates get fatally injured, and Elle takes out him and Negan rather than give up Valofax. As the battle winds down, Donny reveals what they have to do next to stop the whole thing: go back to the Dome and hunt down the one person who is more important than a writer to a comic.
Having Donny himself narrate the issue is a little on the nose since, technically, he's always narrating the issue, but the storytelling is also quite interesting. The first page is a full-page spread that talks about the author's " death " and gets rather meta with the whole thing. It's hard to know how much of what he's saying is true and how much is just plot, especially about how the story got away from him; however, it's nice because it does give a look into the writer's mind. Stories have been known to grow beyond their creators in writing, so this little glimpse into the mind of Donny, even if it's just Donny the comic character, is very interesting in what it says about the creation of a story itself and how the author feels about it afterward.
Beyond all of that, this is a pretty good, but not great, issue. It's action-packed and does some interesting things with the characters, although honestly, there is not much when it comes to it. This is the blow-off issue of a story arc. It closes out the plots of the previous twelve issues and sets it on a completely new course as it reveals the identity of the master manipulator. As far as reveals goes, it's more surprising than most people would assume, although it definitely fits the story's tone so far.
While the writing is a bit lacking in places, the art never flags. Shaw and Cuniffe are a fantastic team; the artists amazingly laid out and paced a double-page spread. The opening splash page looks amazing as well. The art in this issue is so outstanding; every page gives the reader something new to marvel at. It's exactly the kind of art that sells the last issue of a story arc; Shaw and Cuniffe have definitely hit the next level with this issue.
Crossover #13 is a fun read. One could desire for there to be more character growth, but it's okay there isn't; this issue gives readers everything they need. It's entertaining and deep in equal measure, and the art is gorgeous, elevating the whole thing to another level. Crossover is about to go in an exciting direction, but if it stays at this level of quality, things will be amazing.
