Boom! Studios 2017
Written by Simon Spurrier
Illustrated by Jonas Goonface
Lettered by Colin Bell
Well Ennay now has Sal with him and things are much different than they’ve been in the past even with Bud still by his side. I kind of like that Si isn’t giving us this day to day thing but rather the highlights instead. It means that we’re seeing things at their best, or worst depending on how you see it, instead of the mundane and let’s be honest where Ennay is concerned it’s usually something significant indeed.
So we open with Ennay having performed his music and willing to go with a couple for some physical thrills. That is until he remembers that Sal is back there with Bud and he decides to call it a night instead. He’s showing restraint and seems to be thinking of her well being and that's becoming something of a parent. Who’d have thought that would happen when she was unceremoniously dumped on him. I like this not just because it shows us how he’s changing but also because it serves to remind us how Ennay sees himself as more gender fluid than strictly male or female.
I find myself enchanted by the concepts that Si introduces us to here. The idea that at three years old you have a day that you God is born and you have a party to introduce you and it to the world. One where it accepts its first payment so that it can exist and both it and the child can lead normal lives. Normal being subjective of course and then to see the way Sal and Ennay react to it says a lot about it as well. There’s some nice thought provoking stuff going on within this story.
Jonas continues to do some wonderful work on the interiors here. I love the look and feel of it, the way he’s managed to style the characters and the gods and fuse his own creativity and imagination into this. His eye for storytelling is fantastic as we see through the use of page layouts that utilise angles, perspective and even backgrounds. It kind of takes this story to that level we don’t expect but thoroughly enjoy.
I also like that we see the Detective again who has been tailing Ennay. Then there’s also the whole thing where they are being used by Mister Benotti and the getaway was pretty amusing to me. Of course there’s also another aspect to all this that we wouldn’t be remotely aware of if it weren’t for Smudge, Ennay’s groupie detective of sorts. Naturally that’s also the note that the issue ends on and it promises to be a doozy!
This book fuses humour and individuality into something heavy and unexpected and it’s the epitome of water cooler talk material.