Review: Abbott 1973 #3 (of 5)

The dark forces of Detroit 1973 are coalescing around Elena Abbott, be it a lecherous boss, the Umbra, a political stew simmering and now a missing girlfriend. Can things get worse?

The pressures on Elena are beginning to stack up. With no one else to turn too, an old friend steps up to the plate and downtown Detroit’s version of the Lone Gunman. Together they plan to solve at least one of the problems that beleaguer Elena, which hopefully free her up to take on the rest of the brewing evils.

Having reviewed issue one, I had to take a crash course in order to catch-up. With that in mind, I have to say I really enjoyed the second issue. This third issue is a slower paced book as it acts as a transitional book, moving from the first arc of the book into the penultimate and final issues. That said, Saladin Ahmed’s script stretches Elena’s resilience in. away that forces her to snap back. Ahmed moves the characters through situations that seem logical as the reader but offers some troubles for Elena. Ahmed’s pacing is working brilliantly, even though they not be any major real action on show, but without this type of book there are no real emotional impacts from the rest of the story.

Sami Kivelá’s art remains outstanding. There is a grittiness to the environments that seem to affect Elena. The figure work has a Paul Gulacy kind of feel, though this is offset with some facial elements that seem cartoony rather than the scratchy feel that the environment may imply. Its an entertaining, visually impactful style for sure. The spectral elements are well observed with colorist Mattia Iacono really coming into the fore. When you consider that the book is part hardcore 70’s Detroit and part Supernatural there are contrast sin the scheme which are handled well. Finally, letterer Jim Campbell delivers a font that doesn’t detract from the art, is easy to read and follow.

By having the book set in the 70’s those -ism elements may feel like an easier sell, with a more closed worldview than we reportedly living in. Bearing in mind that this book has a lot of issues to work into the story, Ahmed juggles them well without coming across as preachy.

Writing – 4.5 Stars
Art – 5 Stars
Colors – 5 Stars

Overall – 4.5 Stars

Written by; Saladin Ahmed
Art by; Sami Kivelá
Colors by; Mattia Iacono
Letters by; Jim Campbell
Published by; BOOM! Studios

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network