Cover #6: Endings and Beginnings

Every issue of Cover seems to be better than the last. Every. Single. One. As we close out what I believe to be one of the finest works of graphic narrative in 20+ years, I continue to find myself astonished. Bendis manages to pepper each issue with truly remarkable moments, like the discussions at this issue’s Convention Dinner (“we both lost to Mignola”) while maintain a steady narrative pace. The many asides and tangents have the potential to detract from the central narrative but manage instead to firmly build the world in which Max lives through the examination of the comics industry both in our world as well as Max’s world.

But it is the work of David Mack that makes this series sing. This series is a series in motion. There is no panel wasted as we weave through a story filled with intrigue. It never holds still, even when it is holding still. There is about a four-page sequence in this issue where Max and Essad face each other across a table, each occupying their own panels on opposite sides of the page, and have a conversation amidst other conversations. These two do not move, yet the sequence breathes– a series of moments, stuck in the repeating pattern of page layouts that take on a life of their own.

And speaking to life, note the pervasive influence of the gutters here. As I noted in the first issue, when Max works on his samurai comics, we see the artist fade into the gutters, becoming a part of the lifeblood that feeds the work. Here, we see the absorption of life into the gutters– the masses and even the fauna occupy that space that Max once occupied alone. Breathtaking.

As I say farewell to Max, I just wanted to take a final moment to thank everybody involved in bringing this text to life. Zu Orzu’s colors throughout were vibrant when they needed to be and hushed when appropriate. Carlos’ lettering managed to take dense moments of text and integrate them flawlessly through his immaculate positioning. The metanarrative contributors, from Oeming to Sienkiewicz, turned in gorgeous work that made me yearn for these fictional fictions. And of course, hats of to David and Brian for having the boldness to create a comics series unlike any other. Cheers to all!