Writer: Justin Jordan
Artist: Tradd Moore
Publisher: Image Comics
Oh what can be said about the last bloody intestine strewn (literally used as a weapon. That’s a first…) issue of the Luther Strode mini series. Spoilers aplenty but I will try to keep some things a surprise.
You might have thought that the final issue was building up to a final climax between the librarian and our hero. You would be right about that. I guess the most prominent thing about our climactic fight scene is the use of one’s own intestines as a weapon of war.
Here’s the scene in question:
Well let’s walk through this. There are scenes beforehand where our villain the Evil Librarian literally rips out Luther Strode’s intestines and throws him through a roof. Luther Strode then uses his own intestines (see above) to grab the villain by the neck before he twists his head around and snaps his neck. He then proceeds to grab the 30 or so feet of his intestines and stuffs them back into his stomach.
The writer, using his own character to say how ridiculous this all looks (and making us yearn for the consistent story logic inherent with radioactive spiders…) states:
“I know this should be impossible. But I am just flesh. Too. He was right about that. And when the mind commands…the flesh obeys.”
Well that explains it then. If you like really really violent fight scenes then you can’t go wrong with this final issue of the series. Overall, it sort of feels like a C plus on the writing side even though the art is outstanding. It had some nice riffs on superhero myths and one brilliant comment on the real superhero movement but not really outstanding conceptually. I also didn’t quite get or understand the source of the Powers that came with the Heracles Method (see review of issue 1). It’s not bad but, honestly, if you have a chance to read most of what Alan Moore or Warren Ellis has written or even newer comics like Spaceman or Prophet then I would go with those first before buying the eventual Luther Strode graphic novel.
There is room for future issues, though. The Librarian does mention someone known as Cain who might be the Boss of Evil Bosses. There are some plot threads left unsolved. What about the other super humans who were enslaved in issues one and two? Will they escape now? Are they dangerous? The end is really unconvincing as Luther Strode goes down in a hail of bullets, which we know can’t kill him. I have to be honest I’m not sure that I care that much, but I’m hoping that the writer improves or widens his vision. I guess I’d be curious about what the writer could do in other genres. This was technically very good as storytelling. 3.85 for the entire series. If it was a movie, then it would be Sam Raimi’s “Dark Man”. There are many many better movies than Sam Raimi’s “Dark Man”. Not the worst comic I’ve read but not outstanding either
Related:
- The Strange Talent of Luther Strode 4 (comicsforge.com)
- The Strange Talent of Luther Strode 2 by Justin Jordan and Tradd Moore (comicsforge.com)
- The Strange Talent of Luther Strode Issue 3 (comicsforge.com)
