Narco #5 // Review
Kase opens his front door to see Marcus sitting there. “I was wrong about everything,” he says. It’s not easy thing to say, but he’s had a lot of time to think. It was kind of difficult not to get lost in thought: he’s figured out who killed Jess. He’s got a big task ehade of him in Narco #5. Writer Doug Wagner and artist Daniel Hillyard conclude an appealing mystery thriller with colorist Dave Stewart. The final issue in the series is staged as a showdown with a little bit of narrative punctuation afterwards.
Marcus is going to have his work cut out for him. But he's not going to be able to face his showdown alone. He's going to have to find help. He's going to have to see help from people who might be reluctant to help him. Nevertheless, he needs to find the right courage in order to face of the responsibility that he has to the victim and to everyone who knows him. More importantly, he really owes it to himself to get everything squared away. You can't afford to just give up, even if that means risking his life.
Wagner had some really important decisions to make with respect to the final issue of the series. It's kind of an awkward position to have the story reach this particular moment with a full issue left. There's a time on a tradition with misery suspense stories that involves the final resolution hitting in the last couple of moments. Wagner reveals the full reality of the mystery relatively early on the final issue. So there's a lot of resolution that's already happened by the time the climax vaccine is. It's an interesting approach that's still leaves room for a surprise or two at issue’s end.
Hillyard frames the action with an emotionally nuanced precision that feels both determined and exhausted at the same time. This is the end of a long journey for everyone involved. (it's kind of remarkable that it's only been four issues leading into this one. It's been a real journey.) the most impressive aspect of the final chapel, though, is the lighting. Stewart set the mood almost perfectly. The quality of sunlight outside of Kase’s house lends quite a bit of texture and volume to the visuals, but also gives it an emotional resonance that contrasts pwoefully against the evening shadows of the big showdown.
As clever as the central narrative is, the overall resolution falls into sort of a murder mystery cliché. This isn’t a huge disappointment, though. Wagner and Company have done a really good job of making Marcus endearing enough to draw an emotional connection to the reader. Jess’ casually beautiful charm in the first is develops connection with the victim that serves as motivation for a satisfying resolution. That emotional connection with the victim is played on with particularly sophisticated brutality in the final big climactic scene of the series. Above all, the emotional component to Narco makes it well worth reading.
