Sideways #13 // Review
With this title winding towards its inevitable end, this penultimate issue sets the stage for the unfortunate series finale. Kenneth Rocafort accompanied by Shane Davis, Dan DiDio, and Michelle Delecki collectively deliver another chapter in Derek James’ exciting albeit short lived life as a young hero. While DC’s ‘New Age of Superheroes’ imprint continues to lose titles one after another, Sideways stands next in line to hit the brakes only one year after conception, this fan favorite will be sorely missed.
Serving mainly as the primer for the final issue and attempting to wrap up any loose ends neatly, there still lays a noticeable and tragically rushed feeling toward this chapter. The majority of the issue acts merely as flashback to how Sideways narrowly escaped from his captors with the help of a friend, yet still coming off as cheap in the process. Having the final showdown be casually dusted under the rug within dialogue, despite this being the final showdown against the evil forces behind everything wrong in his life, there was obviously more left to be said, assumedly more issues, prior to its cancellation. With an unexpected, but obvious, last page reveal, the writing seems to be on the wall for the young protagonist.
Bookending a handful of the issue’s first and last pages, Rocafort pencils the present timeline while Shane Davis pencils the flashback portions and the overall weight of the issue. Rocafort, the main selling point of this series is once again left out from the majority of his own creation. Although standing to pencil the final issue alone, the times absent from this title greatly hurt the series while diminishing any momentum it had built with its unique signature style, having been absent more than present. Shane Davis has the unfortunate role of being back up pencils on an artist specific title, leaving the overall issue rough around the edges.
After everything Derek James has gone through, from a dopey kid with a YouTube channel to tragic hero traveling throughout the multiverse and beyond earning a place within the DCU, his greater purpose was unfortunately never fully realized. Set to be the Spider-Man analog for the DC Universe, Sideways gets placed on the back burner until another creator can find a lucrative use for the young hero. With one final issue left to stand, readers can only hope for one last heartfelt goodbye from none other than Kenneth Rocafort.
