Broken Frontier

Julie realizes she needs help, but who can she turn to... the Hospital thinks she is trying to hoax them, her sister is, well, incapacitated and her husband wants nothing to do with her. What’s a woman with a silver chest supposed to do?

Terry Moore is not going to lay all his cards on the table at once. Strangers In Paradise had a way of turning what you thought you knew around on you. So, while I imagine a little of this issue is either red herring or not all the picture, but we sure learn an awful lot about Julie.

Seems her marriage hit its rough patch at the loss of most of her family. We meet her one surviving relative, Pam, who is in an institution and seems to be less then solid in her rationality. Julie also confronts Rick and we find out that everything was wrong already. Moore’s handling of Julie has been perfectly paced, there has been an aura of mystery around her and with so much being revealed in this issue, it feels as if we know here, but then Katchoo had a way of hiding things all the time. I imagine that as the cast grows we will find out there are lots of things we do not know.

Moore writes characters that are believable and Julie’s flaws only make her more so. He also returns us to Park Ranger Dillon, who has a past as well. There is also a revelation which will step up the search to retrieve the Beta suit from Julie. Life is not going to get any easier and what already feels like a frantic pace is sure to only get more harried as we go.

On the art side, I know that Moore had some technical problems with this issue, I believe he had a computer crash and it may have set him back a bit and while the art is not bad. It is somewhat inconsistent when compared with the last two issues. Detail just seems to be missing. I hope that it is a problem that will correct itself, cause the art is still phenomenal. It’s just that when you are expecting one level and get another, it can be a hard thing to accept. His story telling is still great in every panel. You see the curiosity in Rick as he almost reaches out to test the plate. It is an interesting study in the emotional content of the art form.

Echo is quickly becoming my favorite independent title. The story just builds on itself every issue. It is a thrill to read and leaves me wanting more right away. Fortunately we will all get more Moore in August as his long expected runs of Runaways and Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane begin. All in all, it’s a great time to be a Terry Moore fan!