Revival #8, by Marc Alan Fishman – Snarky Synopsis | @MDWorld
March 31, 2013 Marc Fishman 0 Comments
Written by Tim Seeley, Art by Mike Norton
It’s strange to me when I pick up my books. Every week, I like to read them in order of mental weight. In lesser terms: I like to read the dumb stuff first. Why? Because dumb is easy. Dumb is fun. I start my review this way because it should be noted Revival is one of the last books I read when I pick it up. Tim Seeley and Mike Norton’s ‘Rural Noir’ continues to be a wicked, nuanced, macabre who-dun-it that revels in taking two steps forward and one step back every issue. Much like the Wisconsin town it inhabits, Revival #8 is quant on the outside, and evil in the middle. Let’s crack it open, before it heals, shall we?
Picking up from where we left off, the issue follows several continuing threads established throughout the previous issues. Officer Dana Cypress confronts her sister’s creep of a professor. The mayor deals with the aftermath of the bodypart delivery service debacle of last issue, whilst deftly calling in a favor of Sheriff Cyprus. May Tao follows up on her lead to Wisconsin’s resident Jack Lalanne. Em Cyprus meets a fellow Reviver who introduces her to a potential higher calling. And just for the hell of it, we end on a cliffhanger with yet-another resident of the town that could (and probably will) add to the tapestry of mystery blanketing the book like so much fallen snow.
Speaking on Seeley’s scripting prowess, I continue to be impressed. Call it a bit of mid-western pride, but Tim’s words ooze local flavor. His characters are guarded, polite, and well fleshed out. It’s apparent throughout the issue (and the series as a whole), that the Four Star Studios’ boys know that people speak to their pasts, whether we know it or not. Because of this, the whole Revival experience feels distinctly Tarantinian to me. This is a town with a rich history, and Seeley was smart to drop us in well after the comfortable parts. The issue for all my feared ‘headiness’ is a quick read. Scenes are brilliantly paced, and don’t linger. Because of this, the issue packs in more beats in 22 pages than 2 Marvel or DC books combined. I applaud it.
Perhaps the best part of the series as it continues though, is the marriage of Seeley’s script to Norton’s art. Forever a dependable draftsman, Norton knows exactly how to visually set, pace, and deliver the tight script. Everything has the sheen of a Holmes mystery. No one is as they seem. Panels know to linger on a shadowed face, or a quick up-tilt shot… Just to perfectly set that ‘…Or is it?’ feeling the best mysteries know how to show. Kudos belong to Norton as well for not shying away from detail. He sets every scene. Bookcases filled with books (not arranged neatly), wooded forest pathways, and snow-studded parking lots litter the book. And when an emotional point is hit? Norton pulls his backgrounds away in lieu of a strongly inked, sparsely colored tone. It’s vaguely reminiscent of Frank Miller, in the best way. Colors by Mark Englert tend to be a bit too cheery for the horror tone of the book—but the eery glow of the alien/ghost/spent reviver/who knows is always spine-tingling. Suffice to say: with 10% more depression in the palate, the art would match the tone of the book 100% more in my hunbled opinion.
If there’s any other gripe to be had, they are surface bitches at best. Revival recalls my experience reading Y: The Last Man. A series I sadly admit I never finished. Mainly because the mysteries piled up, and up, and up, and I simply could no longer keep them all fresh in my mind month to month. Now it should be noted Y lasted for 5 years. I know not how long the plan is to keep Revival around, so, suffice to say I’m doing my best to hold my tongue. The frustration does set in though, when we’ve been introduced to so many townsfolk, all of whom may or may not have their own mysteries to solve… it becomes exponentially cumbersome to ensure I know “who may be evil”, “who is definitely evil”, and “who is probably OK”. It’s both the blessing and the curse of the book. Because Seeley has potentially led us down paths that could be alien, religious, scientific, or a mixture of all of them, we are left eight issues in without any clue what the revival itself is a function of. Suffice to say, Tim and Mike are no doubt waiting to blow that load. And when they do, we might need a couple extra towels.
Ultimately, Revival #8 is a solid step forward in a series that has stumbled very little so far. While I’m hoping that the entire town is not completely lost to fallen angels per say… I’m confident in Tim Seeley’s potential. The book is quick to read, and feels like the lovechild of Law and Order and the X-Files. The setting is cold, but familiar. The characters are each individuals, with history, drive, and differentiating moral compasses unheard of elsewhere in mainstream comics. If you’re not reading this series, you’re doing yourself a disservice. Walking Dead has nothing on this book (except for maybe a TV show, action figure line, t-shirt deal, and weekly talk show…). Do yourself a favor and pick one up. It’s not likely you’ll have a chance to after your dead.