COMICS IN THE CAN- Episode III (Revival #17)

COMICS IN THE CAN
I used to have time to read my comics in a coffee shop. Now I have to read them in the bathroom. Then I write reviews of them. I wash my hands in between.

REVIVAL #17

‘Wait a minute’, you’re asking yourself. ‘Does this joker only think of sex & Tim Seeley when he’s in the john?” My response to you, dear reader, is “Who am I? Josh Blaylock?”.

I don’t know what that means.

The true fact is that every month my Very Special Lady borrows certain comics from my stack to read without spending any of her own money on her habit. In exchange, I get the occasional Semi- Neo- Not-Quite-Bacchanalia Lite and homemade red beans & rice. That’s what love is. Anywho, Revival is one of those comics and she’s bugging me about it so I moved it to the top of the pile. Now you also reap the benefits. 

Revival IS as good as everyone says it is. Seriously. I can speak to that with utmost credibility because I know Rural Noir. It may have been Central Illinois and not the wilds of Wausau, Wisconsin, but I grew up in, when held up to the cultural mecca of Chicago, a comparative backwoods.  When you’ve worked as a DJ at a strip club in a town of 7,000, then you can talk to me (RIP Wildside Cabaret). This issue hits the three pillars of rural life: Wal-Mart after midnight, rednecks behaving badly, and a hidden compartment full of human teeth. 

With this issue we get some (maybe) definitive progress in the ‘Em is having an untoward affair with her Professor’ storyline and some really beautiful sentiments from said Professor to his wife. (That Tim Seeley has grown so much as a writer from the days when he overused ‘Lil’ in all his scripts). We find out a little more about the creepy masked, scarred guy that was gunning for the Professor. Dana reestablishes her badassitude while tracking down the Professor and we find out that the father of her child is still in love with her even though he’s shacking up with a hot, inked redhead that’s apparently DTF all the time.

Are questions answered in this issue? Yes. Is anything resolved? No. Are MORE questions raised? YES. Is that OK? Also yes. It’s frustrating and confusing (much like rural life) a lot of the time, but it’s also damn captivating and keeps me coming back for more. And, full disclosure, it was already on the top of my pile. 

I also REALLY want to know what the fine citizens of Wausau think of this book.