Review – Cemetery Beach #7 (Image Comics)

Publisher: Image Comics
Writer: Warren Ellis
Artist: Jason Howard
Lettering: Fonografiks
Release Date: 6th March 2019

Blackburn and Moody are almost at Cemetery Beach. They’ve fought, shot at, detonated, crashed into and crashed through every obstacle in their way from Maincastle to the safety of Blackburn’s boat and an escape to Homeworld. But now one final challenge awaits them. The President has given the command to launch his escape craft Blitzen in the hope of cutting off Blackburn and Moody and preserving his rule.

This is the part where I eulogise about the work that Warren Ellis and Jason Howard have put into this series and particularly this issue. If you’ve read any of my other reviews of this series, you’ll know that this is a story that has had me on the edge of my seat from day one. You’ll also know that I’m both physically and mentally exhausted by the breakneck speed this story travels at, and by the non-stop, chaotic, rollercoaster of a ride that Ellis and Howard have taken us on.

This is the final issue in this series, and for the record, this had better just be the end of the first story arc or me, Mr. Ellis and Mr. Howard are going to be having serious words. I have absolutely loved this series. It’s completely insane. It’s the best parts of every ‘80s sci-fi action movie ever written, with two of the most likeable characters I’ve read in a long, long time.

Given that the action in this series is so fast and dizzying it’s easy to lose track of just how cool and funny and well thought out our main characters are. I’ve even warmed to The President, who for, me is a slightly more insane Baron Harkonnen. For me it’s also great to identify this as a very British comic book. Everything about it has the look, feel, sense of humour of the British comics I was brought up with, and that in no small part is due to both the easily identifiable style of Ellis’ writing, and the wonderfully talented artwork of Howard.

Once again, I am repeating myself, and with no disrespect to Warren Ellis, but Howard’s artwork in thus series really is the star of the show. Howard crams more action and expression and craziness into a single panel than some can manage on a whole page. The world he has created to bring Ellis’ narrative to life is simply a thing of beauty to behold, and everything from the machines and vehicles, to the scenery, to the character designs are just so well thought out and executed.

As I said earlier in this review, I’m really hoping that this is just the conclusion of the first arc of the story. It has certainly been left wide open for more adventures, and I’m sure I’m not alone in wanting to see Blackburn and Moody’s adventures continue.

Rating: 4.5/5.

The writer of this piece was: Mark Scott
Mark Tweets from @macoy_comicgeek ‏