We recommended you check out “Midas Flesh” a few months ago. Even though the mythology-drenched space tale is over halfway through its run, there’s still time to catch up, or even jump on. The 5th issue would be a good place to do so. Read our review below to find out why.
Written by Ryan North
Illustrated by Shelli Paroline & Braden Lamb
Lettered by Steve WandsThe ship is torn by a battle of head vs. heart. Now that they have the all-mighty power of The Midas Touch at their hands, do they have what it takes to use it on the Federation’s home planet? Lives are at stake and friendships are challenged in issue #5 of THE MIDAS FLESH!
“The Midas Flesh” reminds one of the types of plotlines that Marvel & DC Comics have been utilizing for their recent event books, but without all of the darkness, melodrama, or conclusion-jumping. By that I mean, the principal characters of “Midas Flesh” have the fate of worlds hanging in the balance, an impossible set of options in front of them, and all due to a powerful tchotchke that they find themselves in possession of. These are choices they debate over, and even hide things from one another in the name of what they believe is the right choice to make. But “The Midas Flesh” operates around these unwieldily circumstances while still propelling action forward and having some amount of fun doing so. The comic has a lot going on, and stuff hits the fan more the once. It’s a surprisingly large-scale, big idea book in a clean, cartoony, unassuming package.
Ryan North opens with a bit of proverbial mustache-twirling from the main villain of the story as it stands. The opening nicely sets a wryly humorous and self-aware tone that “The Midas Flesh” has called its own from its first, splendid issue. Meanwhile, the heroic crew of the “Prospect” debate what to do with their capacity to transform matter into gold with the body of King Midas himself in tow. This is a power that is obviously massively fatal in the hands of the wrong people – some might say in that were it in anyone’s hands at all. The debate rages on for a few pages, before ultimately leading to the twists and turns that mark a quality mid-miniseries issue. By the time our lead characters have made their power plays, things look as precipitous as ever and they wear the consequences of their bold actions in a variety of significant ways. While we were a little worried about the likability of the characters a couple issues ago, those problems don’t seem to stick out anymore by the time the events of issue #5 play out.
Not enough can be said about the easy-on-the-eyes cartooning of Shelli Paroline & Braden Lamb. The art is economical – not a stroke is wasted in creating a delightfully pop art atmosphere for an operatic sci-fi setting. The few comedic moments in the issue are delivered visually, with a keen sense of timing: see the opening sequence where a silent visual joke makes an already deliciously unsympathetic villain even less so.
Even more impressive is the way that the artists make the two humanoid members of the “Prospect” crew, Fatima and Joey, strong but distinct in their personalities. Both command one anothers’ respect on some level (though Joey certainly has no problems asserting her leadership), but it’s with deft facial expression and body language that we see Joey as cocksure and overconfident, and Fatima as stoic and determined. They’re both strong personalities, and the effect to differentiate them is subtle, but it’s definitely there and it strengthens the character work.
The team has also improved on their sense of fluidity in the art. A particularly lengthy danger sequence near the end of the issue attempts a similar sense of chaos and speed as we’ve seen in earlier issues, but to a greater effect here in issue #5. Streams from active jet packs track the action and apply a sense of fluidity in anti-gravity that had been missing until now. It’s a good trick and they use it to full effect in making a riveting action set-piece with real consequences.
As the ramifications of the adventure get bigger and more problematic for our principal characters, the journey becomes more and more enjoyable for the reader. Subtle comedy is still allowed to exist, but takes a backseat to the devastating events of issue #5. That’s not automatically a bad thing. There’s room for both in “The Midas Flesh” – a comic that embodies everything we love about big, galactically-important event stories without any of the baggage.
Final Verdict: 8.0 – Buy
