Written by: J. Michael Straczynski
Art by: Sid Kotian
Publisher: Image
When this series started I knew it had potential, and finally after 3 teasing issues we finally get this mystery intense issue where all the questions we have developed over the past 3 issues are starting to get some answers while also creating some new questions.
Since the beginning of the series there has been this element of world building, where the creative team has shown us the universe and also told us about the different characters. Now, with this issue, it is starting to pay off. The storyline has been carved out very well indeed and the previous 3 issues have allowed us to feel something for these characters and with this issue it is very easy to feel the frustration of our main protagonist as he slowly tries to unravel the mysteries that have been plaguing him for the last couple of issues.
The first 3 issues have played out like a police procedural while having a tiny bit of main story in the background, but this issue is story heavy and it is definitely the strongest issue in the series so far. This issue though only felt so good to read though because of the world that has been built, if it hadn’t been for the meticulous world building and constant barrage of rules of the world then this issue wouldn’t have had the same impact. But this is what Straczynski does best; he slowly shapes a world and a cast till we care about it and then delivers on the mystery that has been in the background.
Part of the world building has clearly been the art, now if I am being honest, I wasn’t a huge fan of how this book looked at the beginning, but it has slowly grown on me and has been really effective especially in this issue. I do still have some issues with the artists character work but the big full page panels and splash pages just look great and really goes to show that if you combine great writing with OK art then by falling in love with the characters, how they look isn’t necessarily a huge problem.
I really hope this is the start of things getting story heavy and that the world building has ended. Like many TV shows, world building and procedural story lines do take up the initial first few episodes but then like the great shows they get into the meat of the main storyline, and this is what I hope Dream Police has been doing so far and that the real story is just beginning. If this is so, I for one will be on this book for the long run.
