The Scumbag #4 // Review
Ernie Ray Clementine seems to have stumbled into it all. He's in a unique position to ask for anything he can imagine from the U.S. Government in exchange for his cooperation in saving the world. Things get complicated for him as he goes undercover to a massive orgy in The Scumbag #4. Writer Rick Remender delves a bit more into Ernie's inner psyche in a chapter that casts a more sophisticated light on his deeper intellectual life in another issue brought to the page with admirable retro 1970s science fiction style by cleverly witty artist Eric Powell.
Ernie doesn't know what he wants. He's flying around as a super-spy in a supersonic firebird trans-am flown by an artificially intelligent sexbot while snorting coke through a tube out of a hard hat. But he doesn't really know what he wants. Now he's being sent off to an orgy to discuss business matters with someone who just might know that he's not who he seems to be. He could be in danger. So could the rest of the world. What happens when it's clear that his cover has been blown? And why is there suddenly so much talk of politics?
Remender eases Ernie into a deeper, more philosophical issue with a bit of clever direction. One of the things he's asked for is a beautiful sex bot with an A.I. As she has an A.I., she has free will and refuses to accept Ernie's advances until he can answer certain questions about him and his personality. He's actually kind of a nice guy in a totally messed-up kind of way. And so when he is confronted by the villain at the orgy, there's already been plenty of set-up that establishes the flaws of a guy who found his style as a boomer metalhead in the 1970s and really hasn't been challenged to change since. It's actually a very, very sophisticated character profile that Remender is delivering in the fourth issue of the series.
The futuristic 1970s visual impact of the series ratchets itself up a bit in some fairly impressive artwork by Powell. The opening scene packs impressive style. It's a casual conversation in bright yellow, jet-powered flying Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am is spectacularly atmospheric. The fact that it's piloted by a sexbot who is strongly reminiscent of Barry Windsor Smith's '70s Red Sonja is just extra. The orgy itself clings together on the page with its own kind of grace that serves as a strong contrast to the clean, conservative opulence of the presidential supervillain in the final scene.
It's all so pleasantly immersive that it manages to make the journey from one cover to the other without a single violent action scene...and thanks to Powell...the issue is more than appealing enough without a single action sequence. The added political and philosophical depth of the fourth issue of the series feels a little bit forced. Still, thanks to some sharp characterization on Remender and Powell's part, the issue is completely entertaining.
