End of Life #6: Bad to Worse

Eddie Stallion truly has nowhere to go now. After being kicked out of both his home and the town by his Dad, Eddie has to figure out his next move. Little does he know that his troubles are once again only just beginning from both the Menagerie and Richard Smiley.

After the events of the last issue, End of Life returns a bit to form with this installment. The fallout between Eddie and his father gives a bit more room to be explored, but more importantly we finally check in with the Menagerie and get an idea of just how their situation works. There is also a bit more digging into Eddie’s past with Sophie as well as Smiley’s next plan to get revenge on Eddie with the introduction of the mute dwarf Neills.

Kyle Starks is firing on all cylinders in this latest issue, managing to balance both pathos and comedy in equal measure throughout. Eddie’s situation is humorous, but the pain beneath it is also clear to see. He is still very much in his own way and at this point there is no telling whether he can come out of it. The scenes with the Menagerie were also very enlightening since they are still the main antagonists of the story, so it was good to see more about that organization’s inner workings. This arc looks to potentially also spin the block on Sophie’s relationship with Eddie as well so that will be good to see.

Steve Pugh’s art remains on track so there is nothing really new to add here. Nothing bad, but nothing we haven’t seen before either.