Pages 9, 14, and 19-22 are Freddie Williams II. The rest are Page, and while Williams is still quite a step down from Ferry as far as interesting depictions, he seems to be making a strong effort to keep to Ferry's initial models/shapes, and he's miles ahead of Page. The last 2 pages are a bit wonky, though. Both Page and Williams have a problem with symmetry.
Ah well. If Morrison was allowed full collaborative perfection on a big project, what would he have to complain about besides Haus and mass schizophrenia?
Still, I'm interested in the themes I'm seeing here, even if they're either half-assed or getting lost in the art. First issue had weird tones of slave imagery, mixed in with tropes of black celebrity continued here more explicitly with gang cliches.
I think the idea that your therapist is a sadistic alien drawing torture pictures of you while you unload, calculatedly undermining your confidence is a really primal fear used to good effect.
Darkseid as Marsellus Wallace/Suge Knight is more than a little boring.
And, as always, the meta-commentary about superhero comics, with Shiloh in therapy, and on using superhero-schtick as a tool for coping/growth:
"I didn't jump into a black hole for the symbolism. It was a stunt, pure and simple. An escape. It's what I do."(emphasis mine, obviously)
"Motherboxxx is just a childhood thing. A toy... somebody made for me. Her little ping-ping-ping thing makes me feel good. I imagine she's talking to me and it keeps me calm." |
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