It’s the penultimate chapter of “The Legend Of Luther Strode” and it’s all lead to this, it’s violent and bloody conclusion. Have messrs Jordan and Moore brought the goods as they lead in to the end of the series?
Written by Justin Jordan
Illustrated by Tradd MooreLuther has been Bound. Petra has become Jack’s new friend. Binder gets a surprise from an unexpected source. And the world burns down around them all.
It’s all come to a head this issue as Luther finds himself trapped between the psychopathic Binder and the inhuman Jack The Ripper (yes, that one) as everything goes up in flames. So far, this series seems to have been an exercise in thematic subversion for writer Justin Jordan. The first series read like a superhero origin story through a hyperviolent, almost Tarantino-esque lens whereas this series has jumped forward to portray Luther’s “superheroics” in the same vein as horror movie slasher villains. Instead of becoming some kind of celebrated superhero, Luther’s powers and determination to bring justice portrayed him almost like Jason Voorhees with a sense of right and wrong. This continues in this issue as Luther, who has all but accepted his place as a boogeyman figure to evil doers in the world, is confronted by an old flame to try and bring him out of his ways. As long as she isn’t gutted first, of course.
You might be forgiven for thinking that “The Legend Of Luther Strode” is just a book about people being killed in increasingly hyperviolent ways, after all the first death of the series was a man being punched through the head, but there’s a lot more going on here. Jordan has created a mythos here of ancient murder rituals that all at once comments on the very nature of superheroes and the violence of superheroes. The violence perpetrated in this issue, gorgeously portrayed by Tradd Moore and colorist Felipe Sobreiro, is outrageous and sometimes unbelievable, but it soon becomes clear that this book is every PG-13 superhero-fest turned up to eleven. Every time you wished Batman would just kill the Joker, it’s here, but he doesn’t just kill him. He rips his head off his shoulders. Jordan and Moore have created a comic book filled with the kind of wish-fulfillment violence that has been stereotypically stapled to every comic book no matter what and have made it a statement on comic book violence.
That’s not to say that this issue is nothing but violence for the sake of commenting on violence. Justin Jordan has crafted a fine story about Luther and his journey from scrawny nerd to, as the title suggests, a legend. Luther has been probably the most middling character in the series thus far with the other characters doing the emotional heavy lifting, but it’s here that Luther comes into his own. He’s finally pushed to see how he has change throughout the series and how he needs to snap back to reality, if he can. Jordan peppers every character in this issue with so much personality that, to use an overused phrase, they almost jump off the page. Rarely have there been characters that are this fun to read even when terrible things are happening. And terrible things happened a lot in this issue as Jordan really knows how to bring in the action. Action that is perfectly drawn by Tradd Moore.
It’s very possible that this series wouldn’t be half the series it is with anyone other than Tradd Moore on art. Moore’s art is some of the most fluid and fast paced art that I have ever seen in a comic book. It’s detailed yet everything is clearly defined and it just makes for a genuinely enjoyable reading experience. When the action starts to kick off, and boy does it, Moore’s art lends perfectly to giant explosions and superhuman battles. Rarely has superhuman strength felt quite as strong as Tradd Moore portrays. Even from the first page, Moore’s use of exaggerated character poses lends to some superb action.
Possibly the best use of Moore’s exaggeration of human anatomy is in the issue’s villain, Jack The Ripper. For every other character, the exaggeration is almost always to portray a sense of dynamism in their movement and action, but with Jack it’s used to really show him as inhuman. His limbs twist in horrible and unnatural way which, coupled with the bandaged and wrinkled design, make him a truly horrifying villain. Combining that with Jordan’s excellent use of deadpan snark also brings in a lot of opportunity for dark humor as he commits terrible acts of violence.
As the penultimate issue of the series, Jordan and Moore really bring their A-game to bring a lot of action and violence, as well as a lot of heart and humor, to the issue. Characters live and die, but no matter what they all feel entertaining and purposeful to the story thanks to the great writing talent behind the book. Yet even thought the issue is full of violence and action, it never fails to connect to the humans elements of the characters. If Jordan and Moore can keep this up for the finale, this has shaped up to be an excellent series.
Final Verdict: 8.5 – A hearty buy if you can stomach the violence
