Alias #28 Review

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Reviewer: William Cooling
Title: N/A
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Michael Gaydos
Colourer: Matt Hollingsworth
Letterer: Virtual Calligraphy’s Cory Petit
Editor: Andy Sumerak
Publisher: Max Comics/Marvel

This review contains spoilers!

I have an annoying habit of picking things up late. For example, I became a British comic fan in 1995 just as the industry began to crash, and a wrestling fan in 1999 just as the boom ended. I also became a huge Sex in the City fan just as it starts to end, and I only started liking Friends with season 7.

So it really feels like Déjà vu all over again. I’m reading the last issue of Alias after only picking up eight issues of one of the greatest comics ever written. It’s not fair I tell you. Now of course, this issue resolves long-running threads that as a short-term reader will mean little to me.

I don’t care this is a great issue.

Brian Michael Bendis hits the ball rolling, revealing that the recently escaped Purple Man is in Ant-Man 3’s apartment, and is once more taunting Jessica, after killing her boyfriend by having his own Ants eat him.

Except they haven’t.

Yep, he’s alive, as it was just Purple Man forcing Jessica to see what he wanted her to see. Now this could have been a lame cop out by Bendis, but this twist allows a disturbing confrontation to develop between the three. Purple Man takes his jealously and hatred of Jessica out on Ant-Man, by forcing him to do something that would leave most men feeling a little confused.

However, the truly disturbing confrontation is between him and Jessica. First, he forces her to watch her own nightmare (which further questions the nature of her relationship with Warbird). After a gentle walk in town, he uses the general public to put on a “show,” to gain the attention of the Avengers (a truly gruesome scene, which is captured well by Gaydos). He then tries to take Jessica back to the last time she was under his spell.

The Purple Man is a great villain despite his ridiculous moniker. Bendis has combined a typical villain’s arrogance, confidence and immorality, with the wonderful insanity gimmick of him believing himself to be comic book character, and so justifying his actions in the context of his role in the story. It also allows for a wonderfully weird opening page with the Purple Man describing Gaydos’s art. Bendis brilliantly shows the power he has at his disposable, and the total control he has over Jessica, in a disturbing manner that for once really has you rooting against the villain.

However, Jessica’s confrontation with the Purple Man is only one part of the issue. We also get to see Jessica grow as a person, with her facing up to a new responsibility that has been hinted at least since issue 23, and maybe earlier. The scenes that deal with the ramifications of this are extremely well scripted, realistic and although they do lead to a happy ending, they are not sentimental. With these scenes, Bendis shows what an excellent writer he is, as he has me completely identifying and empathising with the characters, despite my limited knowledge of their relationships.

The artwork is excellent of course. Gaydos’ line work is subtle yet expressive, especially in his facial expressions where he real excels. This is especially true of his Killgrave, which has loads of expressions and perfectly captures the insane arrogance of the character. In addition, the colouring is powerful with a palette perfectly suited to the dark, serious nature of the story.

This is a great issue that is an apt final issue for a great series. Bendis maintains his all so excellent writing, efficiently bringing to a close a number of plot threads that he has developed over the past couple of years. Yes there is a happy ending, which may disappoint purists, but come on let Jessica be happy for once. The art captures the mood of the story perfectly. Gaydos does some of his best work on the character (that I’ve read), perfectly capturing not only character nuances but also the great set-piece spreads that are in this issue.

Great stuff, and I can’t wait for Pulse.

All feedback is welcome.

A Comics Nexus original, Will Cooling has written about comics since 2004 despite the best efforts of the industry to kill his love of the medium. He now spends much of his time over at Inside Fights where he gets to see muscle-bound men beat each up without retcons and summer crossovers.