Thrillbent/IDW Publishing 2015
Writer/Storytellers/Artist: Mark Waid & Peter Krause
Coloured by Nolan Woodard
After discovering some disturbing evidence regarding the death of his late mother, Galahad follows his father, Nocturnus, to the local cemetery and gets a beating from the Skeleton Crew. Now that he’s back on his feet, he needs to save face and take out his frustrations on another old enemy… The Choice!
Okay well the Choice is an interesting villainess to be sure. Her motivations aren’t entirely clear but what is is that she gets her kicks doing what she does. Some part of me really likes her too she’s a no nonsense kind of gal and she’s wicked to the core making her an extremely interesting character. What I found interesting about her opening segment however is that she was being played right along with Nocturnus. This wasn’t a random target as the man who was being forced to choose between his real son and carbon copy was also married to Jen, Nocturnus’ late wife.
This just deepens the whole thing that’s been happening with Galahad’s mother and Nocturnus’ wife. Peter and Nolan really outdo themselves here too because she looks incredible and I mean scary, beautiful and there’s just something about how they broght her to life that’s a wow moment.
That theme doesn’t stop there as one of Galahad’s old girlfriends who never knew his secret identity gets kidnapped by Razorjaw who has no idea who she is either. Someone is setting these things up and if they think they’re going to reunite father and son I don’t really see this happening or if they just want to mess with their heads well there’s easier ways of doing that right now but regardless it does make for some very interesting reading as we ponder who or what is behind all this.
I have to say Mark’s gone and really upped the storytelling here. We’ve gone from a father son feud to a mysterious person pulling the strings who may have a myriad of reasons who is able to really push the buttons to a point where like the end of this issue i’m totally unsure who is a good guy and who isn’t. The characterization is simply wonderful to see Galahad fall apart so fully thats he basically unable to function and then to think of himself as a failure thanks to his father and to see his father being so hard and cold when dealing with people including his son and his publicist well let’s say things are going on here that defy the reader’s logic which then makes it all the better.
There are so many things about this book to really like, seeing Nocturnus in his civilian identity taking public transportation, the sheer mistrust and dare I say hatred between father and son not to mention their continuing ever evolving characterization alongside some of the most solid and interesting interior artwork around make this one of today’s most intense reads.