Moriarty #5
Written by Daniel Corey
Artwork by Anthony Diecidue
Colors by Perry Freeze
Letters by Dave Lanphear
Image Comics
Release Date October 5, 2011
Cover Price: $2.99
Death is a part of life, and also one of its great mysteries. Despite death’s inevitability, we know very little about what occurs after our final moments. It can be very upsetting to dwell on this thought, and it is easy to ignore because the majority of us have no idea when or how it will happen. It’s impossible to change or prevent an event you know nothing about, so what point is there in fretting over it? Life is certainly easier not knowing what fate will befall you, but what if you did know? What if you were shown the exact moment of death, but not the events leading up to it? In Moriarty #5, one of fiction’s greatest minds must contemplate this, and in doing so must delve into darkness for his answers.
Moriarty learned much at the end of Volume One of the series, but nothing seems to trouble him as much as learning about his death. This fact causes upsetting dreams that always contain the same conspicuous players: A man whose face he cannot see, Sherlock Holmes, and a child wrapped in the leaves of a Banyan tree whose face reminds Moriarty of a man he once knew in Burma. Desperate to sort out the missing details of his death, Moriarty journeys to Burma to track this man down and begin piecing together what his dreams are trying to tell him.
I’ve already gone on record as loving this series, so I was very excited to see its continuation with this new arc, subtitled The Lazarus Tree. So far, writer Daniel Corey has given us a different Moriarty then the one we left at the first volume’s end. That Moriarty was lost and unfulfilled, while this Moriarty is much more hardened and focused. Artist Anthony Diecidue has crafted the perfect scowl and added a slight hunched over look to the character which suggests something weighs on him heavily at all times.
Every one of Moriarty’s actions is calculated and has a purpose, but he no longer indulges cat and mouse games for vanity. An outside influence served as the catalyst for the events of Volume One, but this installment sees Moriarty investigating own curiosity. Having leaned on several people in the events leading up to and all throughout the first arc, issue 5 contains a noticeable lack of significant allies. Though he does require the services of several individuals for transportation, information, etc, there is no bond or uneasy alliance to counter balance the solemnity of his quest. Moriarty is alone, entirely on purpose.
The world of Moriarty is a complex one and this issue gets “The Lazarus Tree” off to a great start. We are in for a dark journey alongside our antihero, and I for one cannot wait to see what direction the rest of the series takes.
No Comments »
No comments yet.
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL
Leave a comment