Standstill #6 // Review
Ryker is feeling miserable. He’s done quite a lot that would be upsetting to anyone. But he has been through quite a lot of emotional trauma, and things are only getting worse for him. Emily, emotional trauma that he’s been through his inflicted on himself. And it’s only going to get worse in.Standstill #6. Writer Lee Loghriodge and artist Alex Riegel continue a thoroughly and grossing sci-fi, emotional drama that climbs gracefully into its final stretch. Oh, man, with the power to stop time, suddenly finds himself in a very awkward position with respect to himself in a fun lead-in to the final couple of issues.
Ryker has only one more person to really get revenge on. A lawyer. A lawyer, who tried his best. Doesn’t even recognize the guy who’s about to beat the hell out of him in his own car. Not until he really gets to talking about it. Turns out the maniac who is threatening him. What is the husband of a woman who is brutally raped and l killed. The rapist got away with it on some level. And now Riker wants to see to it that the lawyer, who failed to exact justice for the murder of his wife, gets what’s coming to him. After that things get a little bit fuzzy for him. Meanwhile, a scientist who is working on the project to create. The device is visited by an agent of the Pentagon.
Loveridge has a lot going on. There’s a lot going on in the story that hits on a number of different levels. The science fiction element of it really does amplify various elements of a human. Who wouldn’t want to have the ability to stop time? Of course, there are quite a few problems that come in to play with someone who has that kind of ability. Loughridge examines some of the problems with great economy of language. There isn’t a whole lot of over and a whole lot of overanalysis or anything like that. Everything that’s going on that the story is the medically exploring is explored in the substance of the events. Dialogue is cleverly kept to a minimum.
The horizontal orientation of the page continues to do marvelously well in giving the series its own visual fingerprint. The white landscapes style panels open up on a large expanse of Ryker’s emptiness. There’s a strong feeling of vacuous depth within the character as he reaches his final stage, having completed his tour of engines whereas the wide panels were more of a chance to show forward, momentum throughout the series, leading up to the sixth issue, now that was wide expensive. Those panels really feels like a big emptiness. Certainly towards the end of this issue.
With the Pentagon getting involved, the series certainly is reaching its conclusion. It’s really easy to draw a pretty clear and definite image of what’s going to happen next. Hopefully this year he doesn’t end as predictively as it seems like it’s going to end. However, there have been enough twists, and turns in a plot to suggest that there could be a truly interesting climax to all of the action.
