What I Bought 2/7/2018 - Part 2

I bag on commercials a lot, because most of them are garbage. But I did like those insurance commercials about "Mayhem" when he resolved to be useful and helpful right after New Year's. And then he dropped his resolution after a couple of weeks, just like the rest of us.

Copperhead #18, by Jay Faerber (writer), Drew Moss (artist), Ron Riley (colorist), Thomas Mauer (letterer) - Godlewski remembered Clara's armor still has the bullet impact from the previous sheriff's tenure on it.

Clara has a standoff with Clay, which ends with Clay shot in the leg and Clara reunited with Zeke. Zeke has another panel where his lower body seems much too small for his upper body. Maybe his shirt is just covering a lot of his pants and that's what's throwing me off. Clay mentions that Clara killed Zeke's mother (her sister). That's a conversation she'll have to deal with it at some point. Ford's going back home, but Luken, the schoolteacher, has apparently decided he likes law enforcement and wants to stay on as Clara' deputy. I don't think that's going to end well for him. Miss Sewell survived Clay shooting her multiple times, but Ishmael isn't doing so well. Given that's he's normally purple or a deep blue, I'm assuming Riley colored him off-white in the hospital scene deliberately. Like most of the life has drained out of him.

This Miss Sewell thing annoys me. Not that I'm unhappy she's alive. She's not a bad character, and I wouldn't mind seeing her attitudes towards Zeke explored (if it's connected to the loss of her children). The reason she survived is not a bad dodge. Still, I kept thinking of the end of the Robert Downey Jr. movie Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. 'Yeah, I know, boo hiss. Why not just bring everyone back?' Faerber uses her apparent death for emotional punch, then pulls the rug out later. Feels cheap, something I'd expect from a Marvel or DC big event comic.

There's also some development in the thread of what Mr. Hickory is up to. It involves something deep in his mine, something they want to make contact with. Something that a few of his workers may have encountered at the end of the issue, and it probably didn't go well for them. Although maybe those dual 'AAAIIIEEEE!'s were happy screams. That could be interesting. I've been curious to see the Sheriff have to deal with something truly bizarre, just beyond the normal stuff a cop in her world would encounter. Even the assassin using worms that tunnel into the victim to kill them didn't seem to faze her much. Maybe that's just Clara, though. Having experienced what she has, maybe most things just bounce off her psyche.

I'm curious about Moss' decision, during the conversation between Boo and Clara, to have Boo backlit in the penultimate panel, when he asks if she wants to help him investigate Hickory. It makes him seem vaguely sinister, or like he's trying for mysterious. The conversation runs over two pages, and other than that one panel, whoever is in each panel is perfectly visible and well-lit. So making that choice right there, feels like s deliberate warning of some sort. And Boo did have to hustle away after Hickory realized someone was eavesdropping. Did they capture and replace Boo? Or is he running a plan on his own track, separate from Clara's or Hickory's?