I guess this was supposed to be one of those down turn issues where you
realize that things could be a whole hell of a lot worse, but then the
next issue just cranks it up to such an insane level of shit in a new
direction that you just wish they’d shoot themselves in the head to end
it. Or at least that’s what I’m guessing. This series is going to end
with the mom either dying or having to shoot her son, you mark my
words. As for the issue itself, I don’t think a down issue needed or
really even good for a series like Crossed. Taking your foot off the
accelerator just shows how flat the characterization has been up until
this point. One of the characters talked about how “they can’t be
action movie stars all the time” or some such, and you’re right you
can’t in real life, but this book was sold on being such a brutal mind
rape, that you might as well be. 2 of the characters look like they
might die of the flu and I can honestly say I have no recollection of
who either of them are and what they’ve done in the story, except one
is the black guy. As for the art, I’ve always hated the house style of
Avatar. Burrows does a good job when he’s showing the unrepentant
carnage that Ennis writes, but the quiet moments are flat and boring.
There was a flashback in this issue that was set in a completely
different season with a largely different make up of the cast, and I
honestly didn’t realize it was a flashback until the second page. Some
of that is the writing, which is definitely Ennis’s worst, but I also
put that on how bad the style is. This series is running on fumes and
it still has 4 issues left to fill.