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Comic Review: Killing Pickman #2
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Ryan Midnight   |  

Archaia Studios Press - Killing Pickman #2Killing Pickman #2 of 6
Written by Jason Becker
Illustrated by Jon Rea
Lettering by Matt Talbot
Archaia Studios Press
Cover Price: $3.50; Available Now

Continuing shortly after the events in issue #1 of this six-part miniseries, the mysterious and demon-inhabited Pickman is now in a hospital while Detective Zhu sits in his car, thumbing his gun as he prepares to execute Pickman. Pickman, completely immobilized by restraints on his bed, opens up his mind to a psychiatrist who has been brought in to analyze Pickman’s mental state to see whether his is fit to stand trial. In a cold and very matter-of-fact way, Pickman explains to the doctor the essence of his soul, reaching deep into the back of his memory as he recounts his unnaturally long life, and how he came to be in the such possession of the powers he now controls. As the conversation nears its end, and with the psychiatrist only seeing a pseudo-intellectual religious nut, Zhu makes his way to the fourth floor, gun in hand, and ready to confront the child-killing monstrosity.

Writer Jason Becker and artist Jon Rea slow the pace down with the second issue of their chilling and gripping miniseries, as they let Pickman explain his raison d’etre. Becker fills the pages with a nigh-gothic examination of what a soul is, whether one even owns their soul, and how one might go about selling it per se, and what is truly means to be sorry in order to be forgiven in the eyes of God. Becker takes his time, allowing Pickman to monologue over several pages with calculating words, with each one painting in detail the infinitely patient creature that he has transformed into.

Hiding behind Pickman’s words and thought process though, Becker offers up a much more grand speech as he questions the almighty wisdom and plans of God. Pickman asks “How can God call himself just… how can he call himself merciful when he creates a man like me?” Though in Pickman’s mind, where he truly believes that there is a Heaven and Hell, God and The Devil, and that judgment is awaiting him the moment he finally dies, what he’s hiding behind those gray word balloons is a questioning of the existence of God. How can such a loving God exist if Pickman, representing all of the foulest humans that plague Earth, is allowed to be created in the womb in the first place? How can one place faith and belief in a power that would allow such an abomination to exist? Becker just scrapes the surface of this theological argument, but it is enough to at least spark debate in the mind.

Jon Rea continues his morbid artistic representation of the fibers of the characters’ core with his page layout and dreary black, gray, and midnight blue palate of colors. Rea divides up his page layout in two very distinct ways, depending on whether the page is focused on Pickman or the rest of the humans in the story. For all but Pickman, the panels are scrawled as messy boxes that reflect the frayed nerves of those characters. But for Pickman, his panels and pages are literally taped to the page, as if his entire world is being held together, or perhaps being held back from exploding, by just a few stray pieces of moldy masking tape. It is an uneasy look that mirrors the feeling of the story precisely. Like the lewd paperbacks of yesteryear, with their sickly yellow-tinged pages, so too does the physical appearance of the page here add an extra dreary tone to the story.

Faith is a funny thing. Becker and Rea seem to have gotten the sick jock of the duality of faith in general, and more precisely Pickman’s very twisted perception of faith that continues to fuel his monstrous deeds. These two know the punchline in the joke that is humanity’s reliance on faith, and have it stored away for when it is going to do the most damage. I have a feeling the build up through the next four issues is going to be something quite nasty indeed, before that punchline is revealed.

1 Comment »

  1. Cool review.

    Comment by Jerry — November 15, 2007 @ 12:58 pm

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