Cyclops #7

Written by Matz
Art by Gaël de Meyere

I think Cyclops dragged a little somewhere in the middle, but this seventh issue was originally published as the first half of the last French issue, and there is a definite sense of momentum that propels the story now.

Doug Pistoia is a world-wide celebrity, starring as the leader of a unit of Peacekeepers whose every movement is recorded and streamed live on a reality show.  Pistoia and his crew have gone rogue, having discovered that their corporate masters at Multicorps had manipulated them into killing some civilians - an action that both ensured their silence and pushed a region into war, thereby giving Multicorps a lucrative UN Peacekeeping contract.  Now Doug and his crew are on the run from Multicorps, and go on a rival news station to present their evidence of wrong-doing.

This series has never been huge on characterization beyond Doug, and it's a little hard to tell how everyone is holding up under pressure, but this Fugitive-style story works very well.  I do wish that original series artist Luc Jacamon had stuck around, because I loved his jungles scenes in The Killer, and the way he textured light filtered through the canopy.  Replacement artist de Meyere does this well, but not as well as Jacamon would have.

I look forward to seeing how this series finishes, and (as usual with Archaia), hope that that conclusion comes sooner rather than later.