Review: Curse Words #9

Well, the Earth continues to survive Sizajee“s attempts to absorb it into his universe, but price of remaining free is becoming apparent. At least it is to the now platypus, Margaret, who is the only one paying attention to the cost of restoring Wizord“s magic. The question is, at what point does the price become to flippin“ high?

When Wizord first came to our world, he was amazed at the freedom ordinary people had. He was used to coming into a world, defeating it“s most powerful champions and absorbing it into Sizajee“s realm. And when he ran out of stored magic, he accidentally tapped into the power source. It took Margaret to figure out how to do that reliably.

But now she is seeing the costs of tapping into beliefs as a means to powering magic. Fortunately, Ruby Stitch, who has Margaret“s instruction on how to absorb belief, is lacking a critical element to recharging her magic. Unfortunately she end up in a place where she desperately needs to draw on that power source.

Meanwhile, in Sizajee“s world, the champions“ battle against each other for the right to kill Wizord and Ruby Stitch. It comes down to two. At this point, it is clear that Charles Soule (Daredevil, Death of X) and Ryan Browne (God Hates Astronauts, Smoke and Mirrors) are up on their reality television, because they steal a classic to resolve the battle royale.

Soule and Browne work continues to build on each issue. You may not know the motivation of each character when they are first introduced, but they all develop full-fledged personalities. You won“t find any army of agents willing to die just because Sizajee says so. They all have their own motivations, although sometime they may not be immediately clear, even to themselves.

Browne“s art is equal to Soule“s writing. In the church scene each worshiper is distinct and shows various interest and engagement. Similarly, at the football stadium, each fan in the seat is an individual, cheering or grumbling, at least until Wizord absorbs their beliefs. Then they lose that individuality, and the moment that Margaret realizes what is going in is priceless. Nobody could make a platypus“ emotional state clearer.

One other thing, if you are skipping the letter pages in these books, stop. Go back and read them. Usually, letter pages are places where the creators can either praise themselves through the letter choices or use them to explain away mistakes. Rarely, do the creators engage with their fans in such a fun way. It takes on the feel of a convention panel, down to the cosplay.

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Writer: Charles Soule
Artist: Ryan Browne
Letters: Chris Crank
Publisher: Image Comics

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Andy Hall

Sent from the future by our Robot Ape overlords to preserve the timeline. Reading and writing about comics until the revolution comes. All hail the Orangutan Android Solar King!