The AdventureMan Family Tree #3 // Review
They have arrived. They have reached that place where the Gulf of Oman meets the Arabian Sea. Akaal the Big Man is ready to dive. There’s an important bit of business for which he must dive to the bottom of the ocean. It’s going to be dangerous. There is going to be a powerful threat beneath the ocean in The AdventureMan Family Tree #3. Writer Matt Fraction closes-out another AdventureMan series with artist Terry Dodson and inker Rachel Dodson. The current series concludes with a fun fusion of pulp action and ancient legend. Once again, Fraction and the Dodsons are doig an impressive job with a series that’s been running for well over half a decade now.
Akaal dives into the ocean with a blade between his teeth. He’s a big, sturdy guy but even HE wouldn’t be able to get all the way down there without the aid of the blade that’s clenched between his teeth. He makes his way into a secret chamber inhabited by what appear to be three lovely mermaids. Akall knows better. He’s there for something only they can give him. If he’s going to be able to claim it, he’s going to have to outmaneuver the men who have come in search of him.
Fraction does an admirable jobof closing-out the latest three-part Adventureman series with a classic story that mixes the feel of ancient legend and mystical mythology with the traditional pulpy adventure explorer milieu. It’s the type of thing that’s been attempted countless times before. In order to do so again in a way that’s going to feel even remotely new is going to require a nontraditional kind of hero. Thankfully, Fraction has a firm grasp of a truly interesting protagonist in Akaal. The closure of the current story arc feels deeply satisfying while simultaneously advancing everything forward to the next major story with grace, poise and class.
The Dodsons deliciously shift around the action on the page with a very kinetic sense of action. The script doesn’t allow them a great amount of space to really explore the exotic locale that the story is venturing into, so the heart of the drama is clearly felt in the emotionality of the ensemble. There’s a deep and deft rendering of the emotional end of the story that feels more than engaging enough to deliver the ample intensity of the story.
The pulpy retro-adventure genre is a great deal of fun to work with. Intrepid explorers go to weird and exotic places. It’s fun stuff. Fraction and the Dodsons do a good job of marrying the genre with a big, extended ensemble that has a lot of different moving parts and lots of interesting, little elements. It’s a style of storytelling that tends to work exceedingly well in long-running serials. It’s cool to see that they’re moving as efficiently as they are around the world for the sake of the adventure. One more series draws to a close as the next is teased in the closing splash page. Adventure awaits.
