Having been our “Pick of the Week” a number of times now, we’re running out of superlatives to shower “Zero” with. How about “this is just a damn fine comic book”? Read our spoiler-free review to find out why.
Written by Ales Kot
Illustrated by Jorge CoelhoThe Mexico event sets off a brutal change. Cooke is hunted. The killers are prepared. Zero approaches.
As has been oft-stated, “Zero” is the story of Edward Zero – a James Bond figure whose world falls apart when he sees behind the curtain of the agency he’s given his life to. Issue #8 springboards right off of the game-changing events of the last issue, which leaves Edward Zero in a state of flux, as well as everything he was used to in life turned upside down.
The remarkable thing about Ales Kot’s approach to structuring the series is that, while each issue features a completely different artist, each issue propels the story forward regardless. At the beginning of the series, “Zero” got away with flipping a couple of issues which put them chronologically out of order, but still made sense in an overarching and thematic way. While the flip-flop of issues actually had a pretty cool effect on the storytelling, seeing “Zero” switch up artists and still tell its story in a propulsivly linear fashion without missing a beat or losing consistency is even more impressive.
Issue #8 does a terrific job of being mostly action-oriented, yet still moving all of the pieces forward and exploring the series’ themes through the economy of Kot’s script. Edward Zero and fellow agent Sara Cooke’s alliance is taken to an interesting place, given Zero’s new status. Without giving anything away (though this part is in the solicitation), Cooke is put in a compromising and deadly position over the course of issue #8. Of course, Zero gets involved, and the ramifications of his involvement as well as her reaction to the new “status quo” in the agency make the whole proceeding surprisingly emotional.
But that’s the magic of “Zero”, and Kot’s approach to writing. As is a common trope in spy stories, the “heroes” have often been trained to be cold and hard. Truth be told, the principal characters in “Zero” move through their unique lives with a matter-of-factness and with a ruthless efficiency in everything that they do. Even when Zero and Cooke speak to one another, they cut to the point and rarely waver. That’s what makes the emotional fallout of the issue so interesting and surprising. We’re seeing Edward Zero making the logical moves, but we’re seeing unexpected emotional consequences and it’s really quite satisfying.
The art throughout “Zero” has been nothing short of magnificent, to an issue. There’s no hyperbole in saying that each artist feels carefully chosen to perfectly suit the mood of whatever issue they’re tackling, and that each artist in turn has done some of their very best work while drawing “Zero.” The unique mood and feel of every issue is supplied by the artist, no doubt, but the collaborative effort between writer and artist is felt, even as the art changes constantly.
Issue #8 features Jorge Coelho, who recently did some emotional and comedically outstanding work on Max Bemis’ “Polarity” for Boom! Studios. While his art on “Polarity” hit a lot of different notes, it was remarkable to see the same lithe, expressive character work applied to such a gravely serious issue of “Zero” and come out looking so harrowing and emotionally effective. There’s little humor here, but Coelho is clearly capable of evoking any intended response from the reader, and the tension of “Zero” remains unwavering. The emotional notes that Coelho drives home by the end of “Zero” #8 are custom-made to knock the reader off their feet.
Coelho is tasked with depicting a long, patient sort of stand-off between Cooke and her assailants. The tension comes from the way in which Coelho arranges the “chess pieces” around his richly crafted environments and the way in which he alternates between open space to craft a mood and close-quarters to up the intensity. The particularly remarkable central sequence finds Cooke’s enemies arranged inside a crumbling set of ruins in a remote forest. Not only is this a beautiful, moody locale to stage a stand-off, but it creates opportunities for Coelho to create some tension using physical aspects of the environment.
Continued belowI would be remiss if I did not mention Jordie Bellaire’s colors and Clayton Cowles’ lettering, which continue to be strong and signature through-lines from issue to issue. Bellaire’s colors transform each artists’ work into a puzzle piece that fits into the larger “Zero” narrative. None of the power of Coelho’s approach is lost, but it quite clearly has a different look than “Polarity” did, due to the lush colors. This is clearly Coelho’s art, but it is also clearly an issue of “Zero.”
And of course, Tom Muller’s ingenious graphic design creates a package that is just as committed to outside appearances as it is to what is on the inside. Here he supplies an unconventionally lush sort of “pixelated camouflage” look to the cover, befitting of the events of the issue and of the modern espionage thriller aspects of “Zero” in general.
As long as Ales Kot stays so laser-focused on propelling Edward Zero through his life’s reconstruction and continues to garner such amazingly strong artistic efforts from his collaborators, “Zero” will remain among the best comic books on the stands. It’s remarkable to see what every member of the team gives to the overall narrative each month – and it spans literally from cover-to-cover. In this way, “Zero” continues to be an unmatched beacon of the collaborative spirit of comic book creation.
Final Verdict: 9.0 – Buy
