Book of Death #4 Discussion

[Tony_H]

I thought the ending was great: the whole series was a paean to tactical thinking. One guy with a good plan and a talented assistant wipes out a sprawling, multi-faceted invasion scheme with a single, precise blow.

Also, I liked how Venditti, in keeping with the endings of other recent VEI miniseries, refused to use the adventure-fiction cliche where a cavalry arrives in the nick of time to save a gravely imperiled hero from certain death. Unity didn't make the save here, much like Unity didn't (unambiguously) get its job done in Divinity, and the VEI hero horde couldn't stop the Immortal Enemy in The Valiant.

[jmatt]

Also, I liked how Venditti, in keeping with the endings of other recent VEI miniseries, refused to use the adventure-fiction cliche where a cavalry arrives in the nick of time to save a gravely imperiled hero from certain death.

I'll agree with you there. It was much better seeing Tama and Gilad take care of business rather than seeing Team Unity save the day. It was their story, their conflict and their resolution.

[leonmallett]

An okay end to what was for me an okay (at best) series.

The book very much seemed to me to be written around getting to the point of Gilad's death, rather than from the strength of a story from which that death was the only logical outcome if that makes sense.

I feel the sense of scale was let down by Gill's art - any time Darque is a threat it should feel grand and overwhelming, and I don't think Gill has the capacity (at present) to do convey that. The whole thing just felt small save for the future allusions.That was partly down to it essentially being a two-handed road trip at times.

In all, a wasted opportunity to something greater and grander IMHO.

[leonmallett]

Have to play Captain Obvious:
Book of Death is to Gilad what The Valiant was for Bloodshot. They are a setup for a new ongoing.

Totally agreed. It smacks of character positioning driving stories rather than the principle of telling the best stories first and foremost.