The Pulse

The Pulse 7-9, 11-14

This was so good.  Tempted to call this Really Good, but it’s not quite there.  The Brent Anderson art is sadly regrettable. He’s serviceable on Astro City, but he’s really not the reason I read it.  Here, his characters are actively ugly, and I’m pretty sure it’s not intentional. I get that Jessica Jones is not at her best, with Luke Cage missing and in a coma, but she should not look identical to Ben Urich.  In the same panel, no less.

They have the same jawline and mouth. 

Anderson also sucks at the Bendis repeating art across multiple panels thing.

That image is so not good for repeating purposes.

Jessica is borderline hysterical, and it feels a little over the top.  It’s actually a realistic, human reaction to a missing loved one, but I’ve noticed that people who act realistically in crisis situations in movies, tv, and books often come across as annoying.  I’d totally be that woman in Speed, freaking out in an about-to-plummet-to-the-ground elevator, but then I’d also be the person that everyone in the theater hates.

The Pulse depicts such an important period of time in the Cage/Jones relationship.  They’ve been together for while, a baby is on the way, but they haven’t fully committed to each other.  As such, the conversation between Danny and Jessica in issue 9 enthralled me. His attitude, overprotective to the reader, is really perfectly justified.  He doesn’t know her.  There’s no reason for him to trust her.  From his point of view, considering his long history with Luke, he should be the one to look after his brother in arms.  If this was an issue of Iron Fist, he’d be the reasonable one.  That makes this scene that much more brutal. So good.

It also makes gives additional weight to the subsequent I love you scene, where Danny sees the depth of the bond between Jessica and Luke for himself.  

Some final observations:

Michael Gaydos, having working with Bendis for such a long time, knows how to do repeating panels.  

All he did was change a few of the eyes.  Perfect.

Reinforcing the point made in last week’s Mister Miracle 8, everything else seems trivial once you’ve had a kid.  

And heh.  If he only knew.

The first meeting between Luke and Jessica is absolutely perfect.  Writing this review’s convinced me to bump it up a notch. It’s just too good.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? Yes

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Really good