For a while now, I've been hearing a buzz around Negation, one of the Crossgen titles that I had only the barest familiarity with. Negation #21 marks my first full issue of the series read, and it stands out as an interesting and powerful read, a character spotlight with a surprising ending that makes me very curious to see what came before, as well as what comes next. It's a riff on that familiar story technique, the hero flashing back through his past to find solutions to the present, but it served as both a good introduction to this new reader and what felt like a pretty powerful solo story. It also happens to feature terrific artwork from Pelletier, someone whom I've always liked but who, like so many artists, seems to have stepped his work up a notch after moving to Crossgen.
Given the cover, I was expecting this issue to be about some alien beastie with acid for blood attacking the fugitive band that makes up the core of protagonists of Negation. I suppose in a way that's exactly what happens, but I was surprised to learn that the beastie in question is a Lawbringer, the nasty enforcers of Negation's God-Emperor Charon, and that despite its inhuman appearance, it was human enough to taunt and play with its foes. Bedard does a great job of playing up the Lawbringer as the ultimate foe, someone that even the powerful members of Kaine's band of fugitives should be afraid of, as well as giving the Lawbringer a believable (if evil) personality of its own.
Something that strikes me about this issue of Negation is how Bedard has mixed magic, super-powers and technology into a science-fiction tale. The central character here, Matua, comes across as a tribal shaman, and his unusual heritage blends surprisingly well with the high-tech trappings that he has found himself in. This has the benefit for new readers of being an issue where Matua flashes back through his past, and so I got to know the character rather well, seeing his upbringing, his lost wife and children and how he first met Kaine and his bunch, and since I knew the character, his moment of power that closes out the issue was even more effective.
It doesn't hurt that the powerful spell he casts is brought to such vivid life through the work of Pelletier, Meikis and Martin. The spells have a ghostly, magic quality, and Pelletier and Meikis bring the gruesome consequences of the spell to life. Like so many of Crossgen's best artists, Pelletier has become more photo-realistic in his approach, and the detailed appearances of Matua and his family and teacher, not to mention the backgrounds of the prison colony versus Matua's world, helps to bring everything to life and to make the switching from past to present very clear.
Negation #21 is the end of one segment of the story and the beginning of another, and it seems from this outside point-of-view to be something of a turning point issue. It's clear to me, however, that this issue can also serve as a good introduction, and it certainly has piqued my curiosity enough to read more of Negation's backstory in trade paperback form when I get the chance.
