Broken Frontier

The search for Cassie’s murderer takes Adam to the seedier side of Melbourne…and sexuality.

Since its launch, American Virgin has been all about discovery and the resolve of one man’s faith in the face of enormous personal strife. Adam Chamberlain led a strictly devout life, wrapped in a protective bubble that his mother built under the guise of Christianity. Now, with his beliefs shaken to the core due to his girlfriend’s grisly and public murder, Adam has taken it upon himself to track down those responsible for the act. What he plans to do when he finds them may not even be known by him. Whatever it is, Adam is sure to learn yet another lesson about what being a human in today’s world truly is.

Though it has been a struggle, over the past several issues Adam has slowly shed some of the bigotry that his hardcore beliefs have led him to. He’s been forced to interact with some odd characters on this globetrotting search for his girlfriend’s killer, and it has made for some interesting character observations. Unfortunately, the problem for American Virgin is that the plot is moving along at a snail’s pace.

Though he’s come up with a promising story angle, Seagle is taking way too much time to reach a conclusion of at least one plot. It has almost gotten to the point that I really don’t care how Adam reacts when he finally confronts the man who took his girlfriend’s head off. It seems appropriate--if not crudely ironic--to point out that since the end of issue #1, American Virgin has been focusing more on foreplay than presenting the reader with a satisfying climax. That is to say that Seagle doesn’t really give us anything to cling to; rather he slowly teases us with what is to come if we are patient enough to stick around.

Becky Cloonan, on the other hand, maintains her wonderful storytelling techniques. Her rough line work, highlighted by Ryan Kelly’s heavy inks perfectly illustrates the dingy, dirty and morally corrupt characters seen throughout this particular issue. Meanwhile, she softens things up a bit for Adam, giving him a more innocent childlike appearance. Little nuances like this stand out and benefit the tone of the story.

The ending of this issue is promising some sort of payoff in the next installment, so I’m hoping that Seagle quits with the teasing and gets on with the storytelling. It is the one thing that this series is sorely lacking at the moment, and it is the one thing that may keep me reading beyond the conclusion of this story arc.