Today’s Comic> William Shatner’s Tekwar Chronicles #4

William Shatner presents The Tekwar Chronicles #4

Bluewater Productions (September 2009–running a bit late, are we?)

WRITERS: William Shatner & Scott Davis

PENCILER/COVER: Erich Owen

COLORIST: Michelle Davies & Zachary Turner

LETTERER: Jaymes Reed

EDITOR: Craig J. Nevius

NOTE: This comic actually came out a few weeks ago, but I just picked it up last week. #5 is now taking its spot in my pull folder at the comics store.

Gustavus takes Jake and Beth (who he shorted out last issue because she’d get fried going through the security field) to meet his employer, a revolutionary type named “Warbride”, who Jake actually knew as Elena, an old lover. They try to break into Tezcorp to rescue Kittridge, but are captured. Gustavus is killed by one of Sand’s men, and Kate is revealed to be part of his group…but NOT Jake’s wife. Jake learns from Kittridge that Bascom may have altered his memories slightly to get him to work for him. Kittridge sacrifices himself to activate the counter-Tek worm, and Jake has it out with Bascom, who tells Jake that his real wife is in fact out there.

What they got right: Making Bascom an even bigger jerk than in other versions I’ve seen of him is interesting. All plot threads are wrapped up, only to lead to new ones. You fell for poor Beth, not knowing what’s real and what’s an implanted memory, which is something Jake has to deal with now.

What they got wrong: The plot threads wrap up a little too quick and neat, as if the writers wanted to get out of this arc so they could get to the next one. Bascom now becomes untrustworthy, which could work as much against him in the future as it could for him. The art seems to be missing something when it comes to the high action scenes, and this comic has quite a few compared to previous issues. The last one is a personal taste issue. Gustavus is killed by a sword, fine…but shoved through the back of his head and out his mouth? Really, guys? Yes, I knew this was a “mature reader” title when I started reading it. Someone from Bluewater and/or ComiXology said so in the comments of this very blog when I reviewed the first issue. But that seems a bit over-the-top compared to the other issues. I’m hoping that line isn’t crossed in the future. I don’t mind the darker stories and I can handle violence to a point, but I don’t like having comics, videos, or novels I can’t read while I’m eating. It’s the benchmark I’ve chosen.

Recommendation: Kind of a lackluster finish to the first arc, but I don’t think I wasted money on it. We’ll have to see what happens after the next arc.

One of the downsides of this new format is that some comics just don’t have a moment that stands out for me (or at least one I’d post–see my last complaint). When I was only choosing one moment of one comic to post for “Best Scene of the Week”, that wasn’t an issue. However, with the new daily format where I’m posting the best moment of that issue, with all those acting as nominations for Sunday’s “BSotW”, a time will come when I can’t find one particular moment I can point to and say “that’s the best scene”. This is one of those times.

Now, that’s not exactly an insult towards the comic. In some cases, it could just be that the comic as a whole was too good. (Remember that one entire issue of Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade actually won BSotW once. In another example, the COVER of Sonic Universe won once because none of the comics that week had a worthy nominee.) In this comic’s case, however, while I enjoyed the overall package, nothing really stood out. So no Best Scene nominations for this one. Sorry, guys.