Let's wrap up October's books with a mini-series that's also wrapped up. It doesn't wrap up the actual story, however, which is not exactly a surprise, but still not a welcome outcome.
The creature that killed Jenny's father is on the loose, and judging by the Ultron face it's sporting underneath the purple monster face, it's gotten some upgrades. It's also considerably larger than Jenny, considering its hand is about the size of her torso. Meanwhile, the Director's stopped hiding that she's part of the death cult that worships the thing and taken over their flying battleship base King draws it a lot like the ship from that anime, Space Battleship Yamato, I think. Apparently the agency has another one that is actually called the Yamato, which was the name of an immense World War II Japanese battleship, I know, don't @ me. Just mentioning it.
Alpha rescues Jenny's uncle from the 3 sisters with psychic powers by. . .being immune to them and shooting one of them in the head, which also incapacitates the other two. Man, I really thought Dwonch and McKinney were building to something bigger with those three, after the introduction revealed they could mess with someone's memories and perception. At this point, it would appear that no, not really doing much with them at all.
Anyway, Alpha and Fujimoto escape the battleship and then Alpha gets decapitated in the middle of his speech about how he's gonna save Jenny. Jenny refuses to give up and kills the monster from the inside, prompting the Director to retreat. I was kind of waiting for Jenny to use some of that drunken master stuff she picked up in the first mini-series, but nothing I could see. Jenny struggles to deal with her emotions, and man, did the relationship with Alpha seem to progress quickly.
The Director has placed a suicide bomber that is part monster on their jet. . .somehow. I wasn't clear from the art whether he was teleported on, or he was part of the flight crew who transformed on command. Also, King's art was looking a bit rushed in places, proportions looking a little off. Or maybe it's Filho's coloring, which seems to be stronger tones, but flatter, less gradations than Robles'. Jenny tries to save Dana and Fujimoto by transforming and catching them, but the art and Jenny's reaction certainly imply the impact, even held within Jenny's giant hands, killed both of them. And in the third mini-series, Jenny's mother will apparently be showing up, as head of yet another secret group.
I mean, I didn't expect this mini-series was going to be the end of it, but it seems bizarre to me that Miss Zero, or whatever her name is, didn't think Jenny had any need of her all those years Jenny was grieving over her father and past fuck-ups and getting wasted constantly. Even if you're determined not to be a helicopter parent, seems like a good time to step in!
I just feel like the pacing is off through these eight issues, the way certain things get a fair amount of set-up, then almost no pay off. I mentioned the speed of the Jenny/Alpha thing, and the three sisters unceremonious dispatch. The drunken fighting thing from the first mini-series. There's one reference to Master Aiko in this issue, but it's because Jenny wants her dog back. The stuff with Jenny's father's diary kind of vanished halfway through this mini-series, although I expect it to crop up again in the third one, probably explaining how Jenny's parents got together.
That said, the friendship between Dana and Jenny has been well-written, and Jenny's growth, especially across this mini-series. She's still cursing and talking trash, but she seems to be taking her fights seriously, in her own way. And watching King's art evolve from the first mini-series through this one is interesting.
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