Final Boss #6 // Review
Brazen was just a kid when the train came. He’d just gotten off the school bus. A few other kids were heading off to an old, abandoned place. Brazen didn’t know what they did there and they didn’t exactly talk about it. Of course...it didn’t take long for him to find out that they tortured animals there. He didn’t like it...let them know about that. And then something happened that changed his life. Now he’s dealing with the person he’s become in Final Boss #6. Writer/artist Tyler Kirkham comes pretty close to telling a story of sme depth in the sixth issue of his series with the aid of artist David Miller and colorist Ifansyah Noor.
Years later, and the world away, Brazen finds himself brought against Knight Owl. She might not have his strength for his power, but she's quite a bit faster than he is. And there's something about her that speaks to greater connection to nature. So maybe she might be a little bit more of a challenge for him that he might be expecting. Of course, he's learned not to underestimate anyone. And so he knows that he's in for a serious fight.
As clumsy as the execution is, the basic premise for the opening flashback speaks to a greater sense of depth than much of the rest of the series has managed to thus far. And that's perfectly respectable. However, much of the rest of the issue returns to the kind of silliness that the series has become known for over the course of the past half year or so. It's not like it isn't fun. It just likes a kind of consistency. The stats listed at the beginning of the issue for Brazen’s opponent don't exactly match up with the combat that ensues. If there was a more striking connection between the stats and the combat, the video game-style format of the story might be a bit more effective.
Anatomy is kind of strange under the influence of Kirkham. As is the overall of the action. That being said, there are some powerful moments or which strike the page in different directions. As awkward as the art feels in so many different spaces and so many places in so many different ways, Noor’s colors help make some sense of it all with added in depth and texture--light and shadow and everything else.
There's a real potential in the overall premise that Kirkham is bringing to the page. However, it's not quite where it needs to be in order to be what it's trying to be. What is trying to be as pretty superficial. So it's kind of a failure on a lot of different levels. That being said it's still has a very distinct fingerprint on the new comics rack. It still has a very distinctive presence. It's just too bad that it doesn't quite reach for what it's reaching for. There's a real potential in the video game style format that Kirkham is trying to achieve. He’s just not doing a very good job of realizing that potential.
