Written by: Charles Soule
Art by: Alberto Albuquerque
Publisher: Oni Press
I feel fairly comfortable saying that most people who have given Charles Soule’s Letter 44 a chance have come to the consensus that it’s a great comic. But what is it that makes each and every issue a great comic? Is it something that we can’t grasp? Some element about it that just draws readers in? To an extent, I think that that is the case. Letter 44 has this inexplicable spark that books are so rarely able to attain. That said, there are great elements of this book that can be explained, elements that are likely the cause of that spark. While Letter 44 #9 may not be the best issue of the series – it’s not quite the page turner that most of the previous issue shave been – many of those elements are present.
First and foremost, we have the rich characters. In this issue, we check in with pretty much the entire cast, from the astronauts exploring the outer reaches of space, to President Blades’ predecessor. The interactions between these characters is easily the best part about this book. The characters are extraordinarily vibrant, some of the best Soule has ever written. His writing of them makes it easy to be completely onboard with everything that happens in this book. They really give the book life, and are prime examples of how to make science fiction feel human. Despite the futuristic, imagination stretching concept of this issue, the characters act as its anchor, making it easier for Soule to do crazy things and keep them at least somewhat believable.
Then, we have the political maneuvering. This may not interest everyone, however, the audience that it does interest will recognize it as being a great interpretation of how politics work. Soule absolutely nails the political archetypes, from the scumbag who thinks he’s doing what’s best, to the altruistic, up and coming politician who’s becoming increasingly jaded. The political side of this book is just as vibrant as the rest of the book, and, quite frankly, succeeds because the characters are so great. My only complaint about its role in this issue is that it fails to lend itself to social commentary, as it has in previous issues. Of course, this isn’t something that needs to happen every issue, however, it is something that I appreciate when it does happen.
The biggest issue with Letter 44#9 is that, until the end, it lacks the sens of suspense that past issues have had. There’s a lot of talking, and a lot of technical jargon. It’s all important, but this issue is largely just the humans reeling from a massive turn in events that happens close to midway through this issue. It pushes the plot forward, so the book isn’t slowing down in that sense. But this issue was fairly dialogue heavy, making it seem a little bit dense at times.
All in all though, any complaints about Letter 44 #9 are fairly minimal, because it’s a great series. Soule and Albuquerque have been knocking it out of the park on this book since the start, and this issue may be on the weaker issues of the series. But that’s really like when a baseball player just hits an in the park home run with two people on base, rather than an out of the park grand slam. There’s a difference, yes, but both are still undeniably amazing.
