Crossover #8
Things get even crazier in Crossover #8, by writer Donny Cates, artist Geoff Shaw, colorist Dee Cunniffe, and letterer John J. Hill. After the brilliance of the last issue, this one takes an entirely different tack, one that starts off the new story arc in grand fashion.
The issue begins with a recap of past events and then someone outlining how the battle of the dome should have ended on hand-drawn notebook paper. Agent Pendleton looks at it and gets angry, but he's informed that the person who drew it is already medicated and out. Meanwhile, Ryan and Elle have a heart to heart in a cheap motel, but not as nice as that. Ryan gets mad at her for keeping her true nature from him, and Elle brings up all the bad things he's done since they started hanging out together. The police come and kick in the door, but it's Deena Pilgrim and Christian Walker from Powers. Elle threatens them with Valofax, Deena takes her down with a stun gun, and they all end up at the Powerhouse, where Agent Pendleton brings Ryan to meet his father.
It's been a long, Crossover-less summer, but Cates makes up for it with the issue. For starters, the recap pages are every single panel of every single chapter so far but small. It's such an interesting visual and not the last one in this issue, but more on that later. Cates introduces Pendleton's psychic, but the question is, who is he? Is he this world's Donny? Is he Geoff? Someone else? It's an intriguing mystery and a great way to kick off the new story arc because it automatically grabs readers while telling a great alternate version of issue six. It's just so well done.
From there, Cates gets to Elle and Ryan, and it's kind of great. Neither can really trust the other, and their little conversation shows that. Their entire relationship has been based on lies and the worst actions ever, and that's wonderfully outlined. The Powers cops showing up is the icing on the cake and asks even more questions because they're obviously working with Pendleton, something that didn't exactly seem possible before, as comic characters are verboten. The last page with Pendleton and Ryan brings up the dead comic creators and sets up a confrontation between Ryan and his dad, which should be a lot of fun.
Shaw kills it from the first page. The hand-drawn pages that reveal what was supposed to happen are simple pencil sketches but also highly detailed, and while they can be a little hard to read at times, that feels like the point. The opening sequence is so good, and he keeps going from there, and he and Cunniffe are working together wonderfully.
Crossover #8 is yet another fantastic issue of one of the most fascinating books on the market. Cates nails every page, and Shaw and Cunniffe nail every panel. As far as opening issues go, this one succeeds at everything admirably. Sure, it isn't as brilliant as the Zdarsky issue… it's better.
