Added on November 8, 2016  Matt Johnson  B.P.R.D , comics , Image Comics , Image Studios , james harren

RUMBLE #14 and #15 – Comic Review

More RUMBLE occurred, and here’s me behind the curve again.  I just caught up to the end the current arc.  Have you?  Is it worth it?  Read on to find out.

See my previous comic reviews here.

Title: Rumble #14/15

Writer: John Arcudi

Artist: James Harren

Cover Artist: James Harren

Publisher: Image

Release Date: Rumble #14 9.14.16/Rumble #15 10.19.16.  Rumble, Vol 3 (collected) to be released 12.14.16.

At the end of RUMBLE #13, Rathraq and Asura were squared off, with Asura having stolen Rathraq’s real (heartless) body and daring him to attack it with the one weapon which could destroy it, which would also destroy any chance of him getting it back.  The queen was rallying her troops to mount a giant final assault in order to wipe out Rathraq once and for all, and Nusku had been brought forth in baby fire-demon form to finish the task, should all else fail.

At the beginning of #14 all of those parties converge on a small downtown street and face off in preparation for an epic (yeah, I used the word..sorry) battle.

RUMBLE #14 gives us four panes of calm before immediately setting tense moments in place.  From that point on all the players have all their cards on the table and are fighting for life, limb and, ultimately, the resolution they’ve all been working their various machinations on from the start of the series.  If this were GoT, this would be the final battle between all the various kingdoms, all fighting knowing that at the end only one would remain.

As I was reading the last two issues of the current arc of RUMBLE I was struck by how frenetic they are.  As I predicted in the previous review, the pieces had all been properly set and all hell broke loose in spectacular fashion.  The close of RUMBLE (for now) is a wild ride full of hacking, slashing, burning, bloody goodness.  The funny, the weird, and the bits of tender remain, but the story is predominantly focused on the action as the series comes to a close.

One of the things I kept thinking as I read was how kind of over-conveniently everything fit together.  For the first time in my read through of the entire series I felt almost as though things were rushed.  And then the last page arrived and I paused, chewed on what I’d just consumed, and felt legitimately satisfied at the way it played out.  RUMBLE #14 and #15 are not only an exciting tumult of all pieces being flung at the board, but also carries all the characters through convincingly and in such a way that where they end feels consistent with where they’ve been placed as the series unravels.  The rushed feelings I experienced were me tearing through the pages, soaking in the action, watching everything come to the end, and being entirely rapt through from pane to pane, rather than any faltering on the creator’s part.  Quite the opposite, really.  They sucked me in and kept me so engaged I honestly didn’t even notice I’d switched tabs from #14 to #15.

So here it is, the end of the Arc.  Everybody is either dead, bloodied, or both.  Nobody comes through entirely unscathed and we’re left wondering where everyone will go from here.  This is a good thing because it leads to the hope that there may be a fourth story arc in the works at some point.  More RUMBLE makes this guy happy.

The story and art through the close of this current arc in the RUMBLE world remain consistently excellent.  The abstract characters and universe serve to carry the momentum forward and the art captures the high intensity of the action, which never truly lets up as the pages fly by.  I can’t stress enough how great this comic is and I will continue to read it for as long as the creators see fit to continue working their magic.

The entire RUMBLE arc exists in collections.  #1 and #2 are currently available to buy from IMAGE and/or your favorite comic retailer and #3 will be available Dec, 14, just in time to gift to your favorite nerd for the holidays.  If you haven’t picked these up as individual reads I highly, HIGHLY recommend picking up the whole collection so you can take it all in as a whole.