Rook: Exodus #11 // Review
Stelhen Neal Kove was a professor of ethics at Harvard. You wouldn’t know that to look at him now, though. Now he wants to destroy most of the life in an alien ecosystem. The planet of Exodus does strange things to people. Of course...the fact that he’s psychically bonded to all of the spiders on the planetby means of a high-tech helmet probably doesn’t help. There are a few people who would like a word with Kove in Rook: Exodus #11. Writer Geoff Johns and artist Jason Fabok continue their sci-fi adventure with color artist Brad Anderson.
Kove is known as “Arachnid” now. He’s been particularly vicious in his bond with the spiders. Rook doesn’t want him dead. He just wants him separated from the helmet that’s plunged him into madness. Not everyone who is working with Rook is necessarily of the same mind on the matter. The fact that Rook is a bit more conected with the crows and ravens of Exodus isn’t helping. He’s got a greater kinship with them, which means that he’s a whole lot more confused in the midst of any conflict, which is only going to make him a bit of a liability when things get dangerous.
Johns has a very clear concept for Rook that continues to work quite well amidst overlapping conflicts and complications that stll manage to be remarkably clear and vivid. There IS some complicity to what’s going on, but Johns manages to keep it all moving without weighing-down the action with too much excessive interpersonal drama. The fundamental action that’s being brought to the page is so well-integrated with the deeper emotional elements of the story. Rook continues to come across like a powerful central character even as he is sharing the book with a rather large ensemble of other characters. It’s pretty remarkable that Johns is able to maintain the title character so close to the heart of the story even though he plays more like a supporting character in his own title for this particular issue.
As good as Johns’ writing is, it wouldn’t be nearly as effective without Fabok’s distinctive art. There’s a clever balance between the very organic and wild energies of very realistically-rendered animals with the precision of the high-tech end of the sci-fi. Fabok’s whole energy is perfectly tuend to the premise that Johns is working with. The premise has a. tremendous amount of visual potential. Fabok is perfectly paired with it.
The background on Stelhen Neal Kove appears in an encyclopedic entry at the end of the issue. Once again...the additional info at the end of an issue of Rook serves to give additional context that enhances the story. There really is a great deal of backstory that goes into the world of Exodus. Johns has a kind of a complicated web of a premise with Rook. He’s done a really good job of articulating the world of Rook in a way that’s appealing on a visceral level of action as well as a deeper conceptual level with the basic premise of Exodus.
