Reviewer: Tim Stevens
Story Title: The End
Written by: Grant Morrison
Art by: Frank Quitely
Digital Inking: Jamie Grant
Colored by: Jamie Grant
Lettered by: Todd Klein
Editor: Karen Bergin
Publisher: Vertigo
I love this series. I loved this issue. I have a lot to praise and not a lot of space to do it, so I am going to commit and review faux pas and go to the extended list format. Here we go!
-Logically, we begin with the cover. Each of the covers have used the neighborhood lost pet approach to show each of the WEs before their transformation. This time out, it is the rabbit, Pirate (or, as we know him, WE3). It is a visually eye grabbing technique and a great way of giving us a sense of what has been lost without using actual story space to show us their past lives.
-The quality of Frank Quietly’s art continues to impress. There is no of the rushed quality that sometimes sneaks into his work evident here and his choose of panel layout and what to show and not show is spot on. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I think this is his best artist effort to date.
-WE3’s, the rabbit, last stand. Funny and heartbreaking all at once.
-Doctor Berry remind WE1 of his pet name, Bandit, in a last second attempt to give him back his animalness (think humanity for animals) before the snipers can draw a bead of him. Just heartbreaking really.
-The evolution of the animals’ relationship to one another, particularly WE1 (Bandit) and WE2 (the cat). Morrison’s script stays true to the personalities he sketched out for each character in the first issue, but shows that they have hidden depths we were not yet aware of.
-WE4. Just horrifying.
-Bandit’s rejection of his robotness. Another touching moment.
-The end. Bittersweet. Perhaps the only ending that could have been used without undermining the story or leaving the readers pissed. Morrison does a great job of skating the line between total tragedy and shiny happy animals.
