Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

Elephantmen #16
Image Comics
Starkings, Burnham & Caballero

Elephantmen roles on with a one shot that happens to be part one of eight. There’s all you need to know about this series. It keeps you guessing and gives you stories that satisfy in a single read but are part of a bigger tapestry. This issue revisits a character from issue five and fleshes him out a lot while adding a touch more about the Elephantmen. It’s a very good issue. After the whole spores arc came to a head last issue this one is a bit of breather but not by much.

The issue begins with a hit man stalking a reptile Elephantmen. He takes the reader through the details of how he snares his prey after he breaks them down. After disposing of the Elephantmen we begin to explore the motivation. The first six pages take you down the road where you actually sympathize with the Elephantmen, but at the same time you kind of want to see some blood shed. You either want to see him fight back or just see him get obliterated, either would be fine. It’s the kind of situation where the characters aren’t terribly likeable so you don’t mind seeing one or both die.

Then we learn about the hit man. The hit man was an abuser of the Elephantmen back in the day and this guy was almost gutted to death by Ebony in issue five. Here we learn how he survived, how he made a living in the regular world and why he does what he does now. It’s a terrific way to build up a character immediately. Suddenly the series has another extension of the main cast and he’s a very intriguing character.

The artwork is tremendous. Whether its dealing with the bloody mess that was left after Ebony attacks the hit man or just him sitting there injecting some blue liquid you get amazing scenes page after page. The flashback scenes also have their own uniqueness to them to help make them stand out.

The issue also contains a back up strip from John Carnell, Andy Lanning, David Hine, Gregory Wright and Richard Starkings called The Sleeze Brothers as well as the usual assortment of write-ups from Starkings and others. You literally get 40 pages of actual material in this comic. Also the cover is a perfect reflection of Blade Runner that suits the story perfectly.

The comic is science pulp fiction. It’s a very specific taste but if you have any interest in the genre or the story telling technique I would highly recommend this comic. This one may only give you a look at one of the extensions of the main characters, but it’s a perfect entry point into this universe. This is a character worth watching. It’s only a matter of time before he runs into one of the main Elephantmen.

4 out of 5 geek goggles