KISS: Solo #4 Review


The four-issue miniseries ends this week, with a focus on the Catman, the least powerful member of the Four-Who-Are-One (an interpretation that this issue does little to discredit). Tom Waltz and Chris Ryall have once again switched places, with Waltz writing and Ryall editing. Here’s the official description of KISS: Solo #4 from IDW:

In this new twist on the beauty and the beast mythos, a malevolent would-be demi-god plans the bloody sacrifice of a beautiful virgin female to the dark forces of the universe in the hopes of increasing his own powers, and it’s up to the Catman to stop the sinister ceremony and save the girl!

This issue is a roller-coaster of quality, in terms of both writing and story. Some pages and moments are stunningly good, while others are cringeworthy.

Take the first scene, where Waltz and artist Roberto Castro emphasize the Catman’s animalistic nature (an obvious, but excellent technique that hasn’t been done enough). Castro draws him as if he’s as much beast as he is man (or demigod. Whatever) and the style of the whole page is a throwback to pulp books, where scantily clad native women and evil priests made regular appearances. Now jump to the next scene, where the faces are too flat and our hero is coming on to a girl in a very creepy way.

The whole issue goes that way: on one page we get a cheesy line of dialogue that nevertheless works pretty well; on the next, Waltz contorts the logic of the story in a effort to justify the beats he wants to hit. One minute, the characters almost seem to be moving on the page, but in the next panel they have these stupid, simpering little grins. Back and forth it goes, on and on.

If inconsistent quality is a dealbreaker for you, I recommend skipping this issue, but if you can appreciate a few diamonds in the rough, give it a shot. Either way, take a month off from KISS and then return for another four issue series starting in August, this one an all-ages series called KISS Kids.

3/5


Zac is thinking about how the internet has made it easier to be creative, but harder to be original. Follow him on twitter.

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