So, I've been hammering through my very big backlog of a pull list (and I'm almost there, surprisingly) but last night though, as I'm starting to reach the end, I decided to focus on The Massive which, for me, has so far been anything but good. However, when I got to the most recent issue I came upon a serious surpirse that's left me questioning my plans for this series.
In case you've not read it, The Massive by Brian Wood and a rotating artist every arc (although mostly Garry Brown) tells the story of the Kapital, a ship under the command of Callum Israel, leader of the Environmental group Ninth Wave (which is kinda like Greenpeace, even down to the big, water polluting ship) who, in the aftermath of the world ending event called the 'crash', searches the high seas for the Kapital's sister ship the Massive, which has been missing since the world went belly up.
Now, when I first read the premise behind this book, I found it to be an interesting concept and, as I was beginning to wade into the unknown waters of creator owned titles at the time, thought this might be worth a look. Indeed as the first six issues came and went, I thought that maybe this could be a nice little sleeper hit, as the characters and world, as well as its past, were greatly fleshed out. However, from that point on my opinion of the Massive started to sink like the Titanic as the stories being told maintained a somewhat confusing status quo and while the characters and world continued to receive layers, the underlying questions (Where is the Massive? How did the crash occur?) continued to remain unimportant to the book. Eventually, the book just became laborous to read and it was becoming a rather costly chore and, as a result, issue 13 was my breaking point and I decided that the arc that was beginning (which would end at issue 15) would be the last where I follow Callum and the gang.
However, here is where the problem comes in. Although issue 14 continued to feel unimpressive, providing me with the knowledge that maybe I'd made the right decision, issue 15 completely blew that opinion out of the water. In a remarkable change of tone, the final issue of the 'Americana' arc, while not really answering the questions that are still yet to be resolved, became a lot easier and more of an enjoyable read, helpd by the crisper colours within the artwork. I've gotta say that this was quite possibly the most enjoyable issue of the series that I've read.
So, here's my dilemma. To I kick this series to the curb or not? In honesty, this series is tagged to be 30 issues long and will, most likely, not finish until next Christmas. This will mean £40 down the drain between now and then if the series continues to be as uninspiring as it has been prior to this most recent issue. That said, I'm a completionist (my need to get a perfect gamerscore on Xbox will attest to that) and if this is a sign of better things to come, then I want to have the whole story.
I'm probably going to just drop it now, as one blinding issue can't make up for several which display absolute boredom. A comic should be collected to be enjoyed, not because its only halfway through a story. I've been given no reason to care thus far and there are plenty other books I would enjoy that I could buy instead.
Of course, if anyone out there reads the Massive and wants to convince me otherwise then go for it, I'm always looking to be proven wrong.
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