The long awaited conclusion to the Jenny Finn story has finally made it to comic shops. The last issue, Jenny Finn: Doom, by Mignola and Nixey, was released last spring and collected the first of two issues originally published by Oni. This issue contains what was supposed to be the third and fourth issues planned by Oni. It also sees the title move from Atomica to Boom, a new line launched by Atomica’s former publisher Ross Richie. And it sees Pop Gun War’s Farel Dalrymple replace Nixey. A strange six year journey for this unique story.
Reflecting the story’s origin, the story here is divided into two parts. The first gives us the city in the grip of fear, brings in the Prime Minister and his goons, and reveals the serial killer from Jenny Finn: Doomed. The second, illustrated by Dalrymple, sees Joe go into action, compelled by the ghost of Hornbee, the man he set a mob on, and aided by the tiny Pippa Platt, who seems to be ever available to connect him to just the right people.
I wish I could say I enjoyed this issue as much as the first one. This one seems to be in a rush to find a heroic conclusion to the dilemmas set up in Jenny Finn: Doom. Dalrymple does make a good replacement for Nixey. Their styles aren’t really alike, but are similar enough that the change does not disrupt the story. The reasons why I didn’t enjoy this one as much as the first book are the change in atmosphere and sudden inclusion of factors which appear out of nowhere and seem only to serve as a means to wrap things up.
Jenny Finn: Doom had a unique, fantastique feel to it. Strange things were linked to horrible acts, and the city was full of the guilt and shame, and something bad was going to happen. Even the fish knew it. In Jenny Finn: Messiah Hornbee re-appears, and, Jenny herself aside, that’s about it for the fantastique in this book. Instead, we are given a secret society, references to prophecies, which aren’t made meaningful to the reader at all, and a Prime Minister leading a goon squad. But who is the Prime Minister? Who or what is the society and its search for the Luminous Egg? A poor substitute for Joe’s search, which drove the plot of Doom. In the first book we saw the city through Joe’s eyes, and while that trip took some strange turns, here everything comes to Joe, directly him to a conclusion that feels more forced than earned.
This is not a terrible book by any means, just a disappointment. |
