End of Life #7: Close Encounters of the Tortured Kind

Eddie has been captured and that’s not even the worst part of his day. Being put through the ringer by two of Smiley’s goons was not on his bingo card, but nothing has been easy since leaving the Menagerie. As he tries to figure out how to get himself out of this predicament, the sharks start circling Pluto once more and Edie’s demons might have finally found him.

The next arc of End of Life starts with Eddie in a pretty bad spot, but that’s nothing new at this point in the story. However, this time things are slightly different as with no weapons at his disposal, he will have to use his wits to survive, which is very much easier said than done. Especially when he is stuck with a member of the Menagerie.

Kyle Starks puts a little more danger into the narrative with the introduction of Neill’s rather large friend Rumplemindt who is a mountain of a man that’s smarter than he looks. We also dive a bit deeper into Sophie’s past with Eddie, more importantly just how much his fear of his father helped shape his attitude. As for his father, outside of another health scare, he starts to see just how much his son has slowly started to impact the town.

Chris O’Halloran’s colors hit all the same notes we’ve come to expect at this point so nothing really new happens here, though the short one on one fight between Eddie and Rumplemindt is a highlight visually thanks to his and Steve Pugh’s deft artistic teamwork.