Had I known that the fifth issue of this series was the last one, I definitely would have bought it when I picked up issues 2 - 4.
I'm going to admit, right here, that Mike Del Mundo is rapidly becoming one of those few artists that I privilege over writers when it comes to buying comics. For a long time, it was all about the writers, and to a certain extent, still is. But then you come across someone like Del Mundo (or Cassaday, or Quitely) who demonstrates just how much the artist on a series can actually bring to the finished piece. Here's an interior splash page from this issue - I'll apologize for it not being quite the whole picture; my scanner does not have a large enough bed to accommodate two full comics pages.
Just FYI, that's sorceress Jennifer Kale, Queen of the Man-Things, surrounded by her mucky subjects. I was extremely excited to read this issue, as I'm a huge fan of the Man-Thing.
(And yes, we can read that euphemistically, if we want to. I'm still a huge fan.)
But just look at that page. It could have been sooooo much worse in the hands of a more traditional comics artist. Instead this picture not only oozes like the swamp creatures it depicts, but it is steamy and full of bugs and is a swamp in a very real, affective sense. It's all about the atmosphere, and Del Mundo manages to deliver it in vast and wonderful quantities.
Not that I want to take too much away from Jason Aaron's scripting. This is, as I've noted, my favourite of the Secret Wars spin-offs, and one I would gladly continue to follow. In November there's a Black Knight series coming out that's set in Weirdworld, so even if this story doesn't continue, the setting is still around. I'll give it a go.
Unfortunately, we're going to have to wait a bit for the conclusion of Arkon's story. Tomorrow we'll have a look at another of the Secret Wars spin-offs, but one with a decidedly different tone. See you then.
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