Last Wish Part Two.

Posted: Tuesday, August 13, 2002
By: Darren Schroeder

Cover of Last Wish Part Two. Creator(s): Adam Berenstain
Publishers: Self Published
From: USA
Price: $3.00 (US)

Moses decides it is time to start taking life seriously and commit to things, especially his relationship with Nicol. So they decide to move in together. His student film didn't do that well in the end of the year awards, and things are starting to look shaky in the office of the magazine he does volunteer work for. These events bring to mind memories of his childhood with an ill mother and an aggressive father.

Adam works to high standards in this book, as he did in issue one, and it is obvious that this plot is going to require readers who are prepared to stay for the long haul, but it is also apparent that those that do stay are going to be rewarded. Big changes in peoples lives need serious consideration, their impact amplified by a lot that has gone on in the past. Adam is working to show us how these things can work.

With Moses, Adam is creating a complex character. Sometimes he sounds pompous and full of youthful determination. Other times we can see his mind at work, uncertain about how things are going to turn out. Occasionally we see him happy, such as when we share the happiness he feels as he moves in with the women he loves.

The layouts have a very cinematic feel to them, as is befitting the story of a budding film maker. The transitions between scenes of the present and Moses' childhood memories have an impact without ever being jarring. Adam's art style, that looks to involve a brush, is on just the right side of busy, with lots of background shading and texture that gives most of the book a sombre tone. This may be trying to create lighting effects, as the scenes in office interiors have a bright, even glary look that approximates neon lighting. Nice touch.

I was please to find the expectation created by the first issue is well and truly met by the current one. For coherent, serious and deliberate storytelling you can't really ask for much more that you'll find here.

In a Word: Deft.



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