East of West has finally just lost me. I tried to hang on to the story for the last few issues, but the once fascinating story has devolved into a convoluted mish-mosh of clichéd sci-fi ideas. Originally, Jonathan Hickman’s story had an interesting twist on the dystopian future. It was based around a religious ideal that had become polluted. East of West also brought in three of the four horsemen, reborn as children, who were looking for their fourth member. That member, actually Death, was attempting to find his wife, and their child. All these plot points seemed headed for something great.
Then, in issue six, East of West deflated. It wasn’t one major plot shift, but more a run of small devices that got in the way. Hickman’s writing is always complex, which sometimes works perfectly and sometimes snaps under it’s own weight. The characters never really got to grow out of caricatures. I kept waiting for that moment when the characters would become bigger than the sum of their parts. It never happens. Instead, Hickman involves other characters, the search for a child and other eye-rolling clichés.
Perhaps the most egregious mistake is the entrance of a “chosen” child. Apparently, Death and his warrior wife had a child, one who was taken from the mother after Death left to continue, well, bringing death to the world. Now, Death is searching for his child, a child that might be the savior or the destruction of the world. With the introduction of this child, a coup within the politicians who follow the Word, and the matter of how “The Word” works, East of West collapses into a mess of style over substance.
Some will claim the world-building Hickman executes is stunning, and I can agree with that. Problem is, nothing happening within the world being built is clear, and the characters are the most easy definitions of good and evil. The chosen child, the monster attached to the abused servant boy, the cruel mother – East of West becomes hard to follow, and so uninteresting you don’t care. I can sparkle at the world building all day long, but that doesn’t make East of West interesting.
Nick Dragotta’s art continues to be one of the strongest things about the series. Dragotta has a keen eye for creating surreal surroundings that are alien, but not unfamiliar. His line work is solid, and the use of solid colors in the background allows for a nice sense of unease. Dragotta also has a great imagination for machines, and for creating a hybrid of nature and technology. While Hickman’s work in East of West is starting to unravel, Draggota’s art remains tight as ever.
(4 Art, 2 Story)
