Review: Strayed #5

A few months ago I was given the opportunity to review Strayed #3.  At that time I was unsure what to make of the story and where it was going though I was very happy with the level of writing and artwork.  Now, as this story concludes with issue 5 of Strayed, I have more a definitive feeling on this tale in 5 parts that examines expansionism and the machinations of greedy men.

As this series has progressed Strayed has tackled political machinations, expansionism, colonization, population replacement and the endless quest for resources head on.  Carlos Giffoni has pulled no punches in this tale, a story in which it’s main villain manages to be a corrupt politician, greedy businessman and genocidal dictator all in one fell swoop.  While these themes may seem a bit heavy-handed, the plot device used by Giffoni wraps this cautionary tale in a novel and interesting piece of science fiction.  Lou The Cat is the unlikeliest of heroes in my comic book experience and yet his naive trust and unquestioning love underline his strength of character and moral compass.  For four issues Giffoni layed the foundation for this fifth and final book….and then fell short.  A mea culpa on my part, I am not fond of ‘artistic’ works that are artsy for the sake of being artsy.  I don’t mind avant garde approaches to art but I prefer it when it serves the work not vice versa.  Why am I telling you this?  For four issues Giffoni did a good job laying the groundwork for his tale and advancing the plot.  He weaved numerous different plot lines together and I felt Strayed had the potential to be a much longer series than the five books it will ultimately be.  That said, this arc was at a natural ending point and issue 5 was primed to deliver on an interesting and successful story line.  Then, unfortunately, Giffoni decided to take a left turn and presented the ending of this tale in a rather ‘artistic’ way.  There is no dialogue.  Rather, there are a series of sequential art panels that tell the story’s finale.  Meanwhile, the actual words on paper are metaphysical exposition.  It is not confusing or unsuccessful; I was able to determine how the story ends after all.  However, I felt blindsided by this book because it felt like such a departure from the other books in the series.  Furthermore, I wanted more dialogue and dramatic tension between some of the other characters that feature in the series.  I wanted the pay off on Giffoni’s excellent political invention, The Infinites.  Additionally, I think this method of storytelling is much more successful in film or television because of the nature of the medium.  A 10 second video clip has the potential to show much more than a single drawn panel, no matter the talent of the artist.  That leaves me with rather mixed feelings vis a vis the writing score for this book.  The story ends successfully but, for me, it was not fulfilling in it’s presentation while leaving a lot of meat on the bones that I would have liked to devour.

That said, the artwork in this book is beautiful.  Throughout this entire series Juan Doe has delivered some phenomenal artwork.  This issue is no exception.  Inked and drawn to a high standard, this tale has a definitive look that conveys the alien nature of the story.  Meanwhile, the color on the book is out of this world.  Doe saturates this book in bold bright color.  The color palette of each panel reflects the characters in the panel and the emotion of the scene being drawn.  It is rare to get a book colored so well and it is a joy to behold.

All that said, this book was not one of my favorites.  I can’t in good conscience give Giffoni a failing grade for his writing.  However, I can’t give it too high a praise either.   The art is most definitely the saving grace of this issue and worth the price of the book alone.

Writing – 2.5 of 5 Stars
Art – 5 of 5 Stars

Overall – 3.75 of 5 Stars

Writing – Carlos Giffoni
Art – Juan Doe
Letters – Matt Krotzer

Author Profile

Nemesis

Nemesis is a poet, writer and author of the upcoming novel The Long Game. He is a writer of science fiction and supernatural thrillers. Besides novels and short stories he writes for UK based ASAP Comics developing new stories for Level 8 and OPSEC. Nem is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and tries to bring those experiences into his writing.

He lives and works out of his home in Riverside, California with his wife and three children. When not writing he enjoys reviewing comic books and graphic novels for ComicCrusaders.com and living the Southern California life with his family.

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