CASANOVA: AVARITIA #4 (OF 4)
Review by: MattD
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Art by Gabriel Ba
Colors by Cris Peter
Letters by Dustin K. Harbin
Cover by Gabriel Ba
Size: 0 pages
Price: 4.99
This review contains spoilers, click here to read
Like both of the earlier Casanova series, I suspect that once I read Avaritia from top to bottom, I'm going to find I enjoy and notice a lot more about the finale than I did on my first read. This is a dense book, busting at the seams with chaos, and so this last issue is primarily just each of the innumerable plot threads charging forward to their inevitable, madcap conclusions through the force of their own momentum. What I'm saying is that, while visually stunning and still a whole lot of fun, there wasn't a great deal of newness to the content of Casanova: Avaritia #4. Things we'd already seen developed were played through, and in satisfying ways, but with the exception of the very final scene which, I assume, will help launch us into the next series, most of this felt unfortunately familiar.
Even if Matt Fraction's script wasn't all that spectacular, Gabriel Bá's art and Cris Peter's colors are worth the price of admission several times over. The sequence where every page shows panels of Sasa Lisi, Ruby, Benday & David X, AND Casanova is just stunning, and even better than that is Kaito's assassination of Cornelius. Best of all, though, is the gorgeous, haunting shot of Xeno's empty bandages flailing in the wind. In the midst of some of the most action-heavy insanity this title has seen, we have this powerfully poignant and quiet moment, and it steals the show completely.
As I said above, my problems with the story will probably be dissolved upon a reread, and it's not as if I take issue with any of the specifics of what happened. Everybody ends up in an appropriate place, and the Seychelle story seeded at the end looks like it's bound for greatness. The trouble is that, for this highly-anticipated closing to a long-awaited series, I wanted a few more surprises and less of a straightforward wrap-up. I was glad to see what I saw here, but not surprised by it, and I guess I was just expecting something more unexpected.
Story: 3 - Good
Art: 5 - Excellent
Art: 5 - Excellent
Everything you say here is dead on. I agree. But it’s strange – for me, the surprising element was that Fraction LET it just be chaos, spiraling to an… anti-conclusion? This was such an off-kilter way to “end” this arc, so different from the tidy endings of the previous two, that I found myself kinda loving the balls it must’ve taken for Fraction to hand over the reigns to the art team & NOT go for the neat ending. (Please note: Not in love with literal balls.) In a way that is just as odd as everything about this series, this fourth issue of arc 3 felt kinda perfect in its imperfection to me.
But man, what a damn cliff-hanger, huh? They better get on to Acedia quick!
Casanova is a HARD book to read, and takes a degree of dedication not needed in most books. The constant changes in space-time alone exercise my brain, too much sometimes. For as long as we had to wait for this book, I too was expecting more. Maybe when I sit down to re-read this arc straight through, with the other arcs for reference, my jaw will drop and the lightbulb will shine. Although the art was good, it looked rushed compared to previous issues, and the story seemed…lacking. The layouts were great (especially the unwraveling of Newman Xeno) but didn’t have the crispness. I’m really hoping that a little West Coast sunshine will give Casanova Quinn his cool back. More chicks and James Bond smoothness, less chaos confusion.