Morning Glories #15

Written by Nick Spencer
Art by Joe Eisma

This issue of Morning Glories has thirty pages of story in it, for $2.99.  That alone should be enough of a reason to make it my favourite comic this week, and if this week's issue of Wasteland wasn't only $1, it would be the best deal.  Still, let's look at this in perspective.  This issue is like getting one and a half issues of The Avengers, for half the price.  And then, when you factor in  the fact that there aren't three or four splash pages, you realize you get even more value.

We don't read comics for the value though, do we?  At least I don't - I read them for some excellent character work and visuals, and that's exactly what Nick Spencer and Joe Eisma give us with this issue.  The Woodrun (whatever that really is) is taking place at Morning Glory Academy still, and Hunter, Zoe, and Jun are on a team together, arguing as they wander the woods looking for a set of flags. 

Early on in the issue, Jun is taken prisoner by a rival team, leaving Hunter and Zoe, who just had a huge argument at the beginning of this arc, alone together as night approaches.  They eventually stop taking shots at each other after Zoe rescues Hunter from a death trap in a Darma Station (oh wait, I thought I was watching Lost again - I don't know what the bunker-like room they ended up in was; this is a comic that likes its mysteries) and engage in a meaningful conversation about Hunter's pursuit of Casey that is both funny and a little sad.

The issue is sprinkled with flashbacks to Zoe's past, specifically the time period after she killed a teacher at her school (which we saw a few months back in another issue).  Zoe is an interesting character - it's been hard to tell if she is as tough and cold as she seems, or if she's just fronting, although this issue, with it's surprise ending, helps clarify things a great deal.

Spencer's been doing some very interesting work on this comic, and as his output at Marvel appears to be scaling back a little (Iron Man 2.0 cancelled, Victor Von Doom stillborn), I hope that we will see more of this series being published on time.