Reviewer: Tim Stevens
Story Title: The Last Place on Earth
Written by: Daniel Way
Art by: Steve Dillon
Colored by: Avalon Studios’ Dan Kemp
Lettered by: VC’s Randy Gentile
Editor: Axel Alonso
Publisher: Marvel Knights/ Marvel Comics
For fans of Poindexter aka Bullseye, now should be a very good time to be reading comics. After all, he’s making appearances in Identity Disc, will be battling Daredevil in The Target (it will come out someday, it will), retrospectively battling Daredevil in a new trade paperback and has his very own miniseries, Greatest Hits. All is splendid, isn’t it?
Well, we already know how ID Disc is going (hint: not well), and The Target’s delays are the stuff of legend. On the other hand, that newly released trade has some great old stories in it. So, maybe, this mini even things out?
Well, after issue #1, the jury is still out on that.
First off, we must give out the kudos. Way’s writing of the scenes in modern day are well realized. The two agents, Hoskins and Baldry, are rounding out nicely with Baldry, in particular, becoming a character of intriguing possible layers. His Bullseye is the overconfident manipulative killer that you would expect and certainly demand him to be. Dillon’s work is, as always, more than equal to the task. He has the ability to render even the most enclosed spaces with a certain empty desolation and that talent is put to good use in the interiors of the high tech prison. His facial work is also impressive, conveying shifts in mood with subtlety.
Now, if you are the type of fella or dame who hates a story where the guy whose name is on the cover isn’t really the lead character, this issue probably is not for you. Bullseye’s presence is certainly the driving force behind the storyline, but Agents Baldry and Hoskins dominate the on screen (or panel) time.
For me, that sort of thing does not tend to bother me. Plus, showing too much of a villain can often ruin the mystique of that character.
That is why it is such a shame that Way hinges a large portion of the issue on Bullseye’s childhood. Not just any childhood, of course, but a difficult childhood. It is so patently cliché that, even if Hoskins is right in his scoffing, it is difficult to understand why they would bother going to that well. Personally, I think that you can pick up Bullseye life story about the time he gets involved with baseball and being a mercenary. His youthful years matter very little to me. To give props where props are due, however, there is a neat moment involving a yo-yo during the childhood sequence.
I am nowhere near ready to give up on this title. Sadly, I am not really ready to much recommend it either.
The Final Word: The cliché of “bad childhood” rears its ugly head, but the modern day portion of the story and Dillon’s art give me hope. This one could go either way.
