I attend a conference later this week. Will it be fun? I hope so, or at least not a waste of time. They awarded our unit this set amount of money for the next few months to spend on "trainings", so my boss was very encouraging I attend as a way to use some of it.
OK, the other two books from January, including one by a creative team we just looked at yesterday!
James Sargent's retired from the force, though it's mandatory rather than voluntary. And he's got one case he can't let go of - you know how that goes - involving a child's shoe, which he has in its evidence bag in his early-70s Cadillac. He's also somehow equipped the car with essentially a taser to use on kids who loiter on it, and opines that being alcoholic doesn't make you bad, just weak. This while he's knocking back drinks at a bar before driving to another bar in a different part of town. And his son and his family are coming to visit, which Sargent may not be happy about. Or he's not happy about the food the mysterious "R" left for him. Either/or.
Niimura's going with a simpler style here than on I Kill Giants. Not necessarily stronger lines - the background characters often have a indistinct look, but Sargent probably doesn't care about them so that tracks - but a lot fewer lines. Characters pared down to a bare essence. Sargent is glasses that hid his eyes, the thick stripe of that mustache framing a smug grin. He likes his power and authority and likes throwing it around. Maybe not as racist as Eastwood's character in Gran Torino, but strong "get off my lawn" vibes.
There's not a lot else to say. Kelly and Niimura spent this issue establishing Sargent's character and hinting at a few mysteries. Like, what's with all the inflatable animals on his lawn? What kind of a number did he do on his son, the way the guy stammers through a voicemail? What's the significance of the second bar, where he was the only white person there (although he seems to be a regular)?
Jane and Nasir reach an information booth, where Nasir apparently ignores everything the animatronic cat tells him in favor of bitching at Jane about not being honest with him. They reach a safe zone where they have to wait six hours. The guy with the sword and the two girls both show up, as well as the guy with the flamethrower and I call bullshit. Jane cut his throat open then dragged his face down rusty metal last issue, and while he is missing half his face, he's otherwise fine.
Then all the people who were crew on the cruise ship pop up from underground with guns because they're playing for a chance at big money. At first I thought the goal was to kill the surviving players, but I think they have to kill each other as well. And Nasir takes this time to ditch Jane and team up with the two girls.
This after the cat explained one of them is heir to a crime family and the other runs a trafficking ring. The latter garrotes flunkies, the former killed her uncle with an icepick. These are not safe people to travel with (if there is such a thing)! On the other hand, the cat also said everyone was supposed to play on an empty stomach, and Nasir didn't eat the bread the girls offered. Instead he used it demonstrate how he could get them out. I'm pretty sure they don't need a computer programmer to pull a Hansel & Gretel. Maybe he listened amongst his bitching, but he's still an idiot.
I still don't know if the people behind this have anything larger at mind than entertaining themselves or not. It seems like a lot of work just to kill some people. An entire village of talking animatronic animals that I'm sure only look clunky and awkward? The village itself looks like it's been abandoned, some farm community or old mining town, but it really feels like something done for effect.
I'm pretty sure the feral kid Safari Bob is dragging around is related to Jane somehow. Underwood is keeping the kid's face behind a wooden mask, but the long hair looks very much like Jane's in color and style. Which might explain why Jane's here, since we haven't gotten much more of that than Nasir.
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