In this column, our resident ‘comics guy’ Fred Azeredo expounds on a single comic book issue every month. Not necessarily the biggest, not necessarily the best, just one he thinks is worth discussing! See if you agree!
I’m not usually the biggest fan of James Tynion IV. In his work on Batman and Detective Comics, he oscillates between aping Scott Snyder’s already creaky style and shoehorning in new concepts in distressingly canon-breaking ways. In his creator-owned work, though, even I have to admit he has a clear vision and the guts to commit to it. Exquisite Corpses is very much in the tradition of his much-lauded Something is Killing the Children in that respect—Tynion has a juicy premise and wastes no time putting it to work.
In this case, it’s a Battle Royale between thirteen hitmen, serial killers, and other disreputable types, each representing the shadowy ruling family of one of the original Thirteen Colonies of the US. There’s something inescapably John Wick about the concept, but that’s not a slight; those movies are fun! And Exquisite Corpses certainly seems like it might scratch the same itch. Most promising is a gloriously gory splash page that kicks off the contest, rendered by penciller Michael Walsh in Quitely-esque detail.
But the fact remains that 75% of this debut issue, which is easily double the length of an average one, consists of sinister oligarchs trading cryptic dialogue. 13 state delegations, 13 assassins, and a half dozen incidental characters caught in the crossfire makes for a lot of characters. If he’s smart, Tynion will thin this herd quickly, lest the most interesting personalities— the enigmatic Fox Mask Killer and Lady Carolina (the only oligarch to also work as an assassin)—become lost in the shuffle.
I have a sneaking feeling he won’t, though. Exquisite Corpses #1 already reminds me unpleasantly of Tynion’s Batman run, which suffered from a condition familiar to many fanfic writers: Tynion believed all his original characters to be far more interesting than they actually are. Was anyone really clamouring for more stories centred on upstarts Ghost-Maker, Clownhunter, or Punchline? Well, they got them regardless!
Similarly, Exquisite Corpses is dead convinced that its world of quirky killers and omniscient overlords is so fascinating and original that it hits us over the head with exposition while we wait patiently for the good stuff. Don’t get me wrong, this series does have the undeniable potential of being a fun, violent ride in the vein of Image’s ‘90s heyday, but it has to get out of its own way first. Dial the mythos down, Tynion, and dial the bloodletting up.
All the way up.