ART:
Last month, I wrote about how Resurrection Man continued to be one of my favorite offerings from DC's 'New 52' because it wasn't yet focused on a grander story or epic to move it's events forward; Mitch Shelley's abilities alone are enough to keep the story moving. Of course, pieces of the greater plot concerning Shelley's have been slowly coming together throughout the first seven issues of the series - he had a dream about working as a weapons engineer in Iraq and he keeps running into other people who seem to know the history of Mitch Shelley.
Resurrection Man #8 begins the process of tying together some of the loose ends in Shelley's life with Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning introduces two new characters. The first is Kim Rebecki, a private eye from South Carolina with the power of psychometry (psychic response through touch); and the second is a batshit crazy necromancer called The Butcher. And that, dear readers, is what comic books are about! By thrusting the real with the surreal, Abnett and Lanning have created a fantastic narrative without really even telling us what's going on! Both have been hired by the same client to hunt down and bring in Mitch Shelley.
By the end of the issue, more questions have been raised than answered, but the road toward enlightenment also becomes a little clearer. Since taking lives powers his magic, the Butcher seems to implode after Shelley "takes back" his own life, leaving the necromancer only his own life force with which to cast a spell. Rebecki, on the other hand, stands down after she touches our anti-hero and sees that he's not the monster her client made him out to be. With his life's history rushing through her head, Shelley gains a partner. Before they even begin their journey, however, the Suicide Squad shows up and Deadshot puts a bullet in Shelley's temple.
Next month, I'll be covering Suicide Squad #9 to see what happens between the team and the Resurrection Man.
GRADE:
A
