What I Bought 8/30/2013 - Part 4

Down the road from here there's a ranch. Or a farm. Probably a farm in this part of the country. They have cows and goats, and this spring, they also had a donkey and a horse. Those two hung out together all the time. If the donkey wandered off somewhere, the horse would follow. Now they've added another horse, and those two hang out. The donkey is left all alone. I caught it staring at the goats, and I imagine it's contemplating whether it really wants to hang out with them, or hope its old friend comes back.

Katana #6, 7, by Ann Nocenti (writer), Alex Sanchez (artist), Cliff Richards (artist, #6), Fabrizio Fiorentino (artist, inker, #7), Art Thibert (inker, #6), Wayne Faucher (inker, #7), Matt Yackey and Guy Major (colorists), Taylor Esposito (letterer) - I couldn't place the artist for that cover without looking at the credits, but it looked familiar. Once I saw it was Pasqual Ferry, I realized the effect he's using for the spirits reminds me of stuff from his Ultimate Fantastic Four run.

The Creeper's giving Katana some trouble, but he has to bail at the rising of the sun. But he killed the only one who could fix the Soultaker, so that's enough, right? Wrong. Maseo - somehow as an effect of living in the sword - can possess the old woman and get her up and moving. Not that she's too happy about it. And Maseo's not too happy about how close Sickle and Katana are getting. Swagger and her goons take their best shot at killing them, but it's a no go, and the sword is reforged.

But the souls don't return, and Maseo has some harsh words for Katana. By the next issue, we're back in Frisco, and Tatsu's trying to get a look at some of Shun's other tattoos. The ones that weren't on the foot lopped off by a ghost girl. The ones she sees hint at other clans besides the sword (like the Arrow clan), and some falconer has her in his sights, though he isn't attacking just yet. Probably for the best, if he thinks a sword can't kill a falcon. Pretty sure falcons aren't invulnerable against pointy things. Turns out that while Katana was in Japan, the swords clans were busy destroying the lives of everyone who helped her. Well, all the women, anyway. Coil scarred Shun's face severely, for kicks, I assume.

The big surprise comes at the end, during a test to see whether Katana can join the Swords. Turns out Maseo always feared she loved his brother - Sickle - more, and that Maseo wasn't perhaps the swell guy Tatsu's made him out to be. And depending how you look at it, Katana killed Maseo. But he's the one waving a sword around like a fool. Getting stabbed with it is an occupational hazard. The issue ends with Coil showing himself and challenging Katana, but not until after we get to see the last tattoo Shun showed her. The one that says Katana taking over the Swords will destroy the world. Hell, based on what Shun's said, all her tattoos describe the Apocalypse. They can't all be the end of the world, so why believe any of them?

That is a lot of stuff for two issues. Katana coming face-to-face with some truth about herself, which also explains some of Maseo's attitude towards her. If he thinks she always favored his brother, and believes that's why she killed him, then it would be a form of hell for her to jam him back into that sword to watch it happen. We also had Katana realizing the risk she poses to people around her (it makes me question Junko, since he's been more helpful than anyone else, but was left alone), and how it's changed her thinking (contemplating how getting close to Sickle will get her further in the Swords). There's the contrast between Shun's drive for revenge and Katana's claim that she's out to avenge Maseo, when he rightly pointed out she was supposed to be cleaning up the Swords. There's Grandma Jin's desire for death, versus everyone else's desire to live. Maseo's temporary possession of Jin's body, and his disinterest in doing so later, versus the Creeper's more difficult situation with Jack Ryder.

Honestly, it almost too much. Like a song with too many beats or instruments, I can't single out any one theme or arc and focus on it properly. Which is a little frustrating.

I haven't said much about the art, because it's still a chore. Sanchez still makes some curious choices in page layout. Take page 3 of issue 6. The first panel suggests Katana slashes the Creeper across the gut, while Sickle barely sneaks into the side of it, even though I imagine his breaking the chains around Katana was fairly important. Most of the page is taken up by an image of the Creeper standing up screaming at the sky about how pissed he is at Jack Ryder. Shouldn't that mean Katana knows who it is Creeper's riding around in? He hadn't flown off yet, she was right there, and Creeper said, 'Jack Ryder, I'm gonna kill you!' I guess that isn't proof Ryder's the host, though I can't imagine what other reason he might scream that particular name out. Either way, there's no need for that panel to be that large. The other three all have more going on in them, but all are relegated to much less space. Cliff Richards work is a step up, though some of his faces (especially Swagger's) look strange. But it's always clear what's happening on the page, which is a major step up.