When the crew of the Kapital gets trapped in an ice field, Captain Callum Israel ventures out on foot to continue the pursuit of The Massive. He quickly gets lost in the increasingly dangerous weather, and the reality of the risks he's asked his crew to take fully hits him. When it does, it threatens to break him completely.
That being said, the art initially threw me off. Theres one panel in particular, with extremely heavy inking and blank expression, where I decided, at least momentarily, that I disliked the art, but it obviously grew on me. Danijel Zezeljs heavy lines obscure and fade out faces, which makes sense for the environment, but leaves most characters looking either stone-faced or simply unreadable. There are other moments, like in the case of Callum's gun, where a Phillip Bond style of cartoonish exaggeration comes in as well, which is also jarring. But the artwork, perhaps like the story itself, moves in broader strokes, focusing for moments to discuss much larger narratives and, while the art works on this larger scale, zeroing in on single panels can be quite alienating. Read Full Review
In the end, the one who's in perpetual progress with this comic is the reader. As we consumers become more embedded in the world that Wood and his fellow creators build; as we dig deeper into the people he writes and the incredibly complicated and morally compromised panoply that Wood designed, we are slowly, gradually changed. Good fiction has the power to subtly affect our perceptions, forcing our minds to progress in new directions. Read Full Review
The Massive has been an exercise is patience and hope all of which are rapidly depleting but the story also manages to make you care about those few willing to go literally to the ends of the earth for a belief and purpose. Callum is a man with nothing to lose and you can't help admire his courage for redemption in the harsh glare of certain failure. Read Full Review
I was always a fan of Brian Wood’s DMZ, but The Massive is, for me anyway, the best work he’s done. I think next month’s new story arc will be an exciting one, as The Kapital sails to NYC… start spreading the news! This issue gets a 9 and the story arc “Polaris” gets a 10. Read Full Review
Overall, The Massive #12 gives us a lot of information, but definitely steps away from previous issues in tone and content. Only 40% through the complete story, we seem to have reached an end to the first act where some books would be wrapping up in their entirety. Full of plenty more mysteries to come, The Massive appears ready to take another turn next issue, as the team arrives in New York, and where that leads them emotionally is anyones guess. I for one am eager to find out. Read Full Review
Brian Wood is crafting a slow burn of a story withThe Massiveand allowing his characters and world to develop in a very organic manner. My only concern is that we may need to start seeing more questions getting answered rather than salivate over the same questions we've had 11 issues ago. Needless to say, this is still an exceptional issue with enough suspense and intrigue to keep me going on. Read Full Review
Happy one year anniversary to to this book, which should be able to celebrate an amazing run thus far. With the end of this arc comes a sad ending and a look of complete desperation coming from the crew. The art team on this book was a bit different from usual, and in this case, misses the mark a bit. With a new artist likely coming once again next month, it will be interesting to see how the book recovers from a down month, in terms of art. The writing is still great, however, and the Post-Crash world is still unfolding in front of us, looking as though this series has no thoughts of stopping anytime soon. Read Full Review
This series continues to confound. I love this peri-apocalypse setting that Brian Wood has created, but I'm starting to wonder if Callum Israel's story is the most interesting thing to watch therein. Read Full Review
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