The Wake Issue #7 Review

Title:	The Wake
Contributors:	Scott Snyder Sean Murphy
Publisher:	Vertigo
Issue #:	7
Year:	2014
Pages:	32 Pages
Age Rating:	13+ (Violence)
Story Grade:	C+
Art Grade:	A

Now, I took a lot of crap for my review of issue #6. Primarily the crap I took was because I took particular issue with the huge leap forward in time in the middle of story arch. For taking issue with that it was pointed out that I was likely not the most clued in comic reader on the planet, or as one reader put it, "I thought everyone knew this was going to happen.". Well, I guess I need to explain a few things about me as a comic collector, reader and consumer in general.

First and foremost; I don't troll all of the news site for latest and greatest news. I don't read reviews of books, movies, television shows or most other forms of media. I don't have the time it would take to troll the vastness that is the internet to get all of the opinions of people whose opinions I likely don't value anyways (critics) especially for everything available for the vast topics of interest I have. And if I did have the time, I wouldn't because I don't like removing the element of surprise while taking in said forms of entertainment.

Think of it this way... remember the scene from the movie The Lost Boys when the brothers are being given a tour of grandpa's house and they find a copy of a T.V. Guide (think back to the days when you needed a book to tell you what was on the television)? The boys get all excited and say, "Wait... wait... you have a T.V.?" and grandpa answers, "No. I just like to read the T.V. Guide. Read the T.V. Guide, you don't need a T.V."

That is how I feel about most of the information on the internet. If I read about a movie or a book why would I need to read it. I use the internet as I need it for sharing and connecting and getting information that I need, such as what is coming out (not what is in what is coming out). I do not use the internet to feed my inner-information-overloaded-glory-whore-know-it-all-ego like so many others I know and love.

So, I didn't know about the apparently much talked about change in the story that occurred between Issue #5 and Issue #6. It took me by surprise. It pissed me off and I wrote about it. That's what this blog is supposed to be for. I caught a lot of crap for it, even a little from my LCS owner, which is also what this blog is supposed to be for. I took the crap in stride, as it is what I do. But guess what else I did. I bought issue #7 because that is also what I do. I give things one more chance.

I read it. I got a little more comfortable with characters. I got into the new world a little more. It's not as comfortable as the old world, much like a pair of shoes, but the new world is growing on me, but only a little.

The story is evolving, but it still feels condensed a little too rushed, probably because they have only three issues remaining to tell the remaining story. I am still not happy with it, but am I have learned to enjoy it for what it is... a different story with a great back story. This book does come with a little bit of a twist at the end... one that made me turn back a few pages and re-read to make sure I read it correctly at first. It was a fun little twist that will get me to pick up Issue #8.

The art is still great; colorful, detailed and brilliantly paced.

I grade this book a B+ overall, but primarily because of the compression the story is getting the story gets dinged with a C+, but the artwork in this book gets a solid A.

Until next time... happy surfing.