Advance Review: A Single Panel In ‘No/One’ #5 Shatters The Illusion
by Tom Smithyman
Overview
No/One #5 is one of the best entries in this limited series, save for a single panel that is so jarring that it disrupts the entire reading experience. One-third of a single page shouldn’t carry that much weight, but when the rest of the book is so good, all it takes is a single flaw to disrupt everything.
Overall
9/10Sometimes all it takes to jar you out of enjoying a terrific comic book is a single panel that is so improbable that it shatters all storytelling illusions and forces you back into the real world.
No/One #5 had the opportunity to be the high-water mark of this consistently strong series. The story is tight, compelling and fast-paced. There’s plenty of intrigue with just enough action to give readers plenty to look at.
And then, about two-third through the issue, comes that panel. It’s only a third of the page and relatively simple. It shows the vigilante No/One fighting off a group of armed mercenaries. They are shooting at him with submachine guns which he apparently deflects using a couple of combat batons. But as far as we know, No/One has no superpowers. He’s not Superman or even Daredevil – just a guy in a mask. And suddenly he can deflect bullets?
While most comic books require readers to suspend their disbelief, a series like No/One is grounded in the real world despite being part of Image Comic’s so-called Massive-Verse. Sure this panel sets the stage for a great fight – wonderfully illustrated by Geraldo Borges and colored by Mark Englert – but getting there turns out to be a challenge.
That’s a crime really, given the high-quality script that Kyle Higgins and Brian Buccellato wrote. It’s one of the best to date for this limited series, reinforcing the themes of law enforcement struggle, legal corruption and media struggles.
Aaron Kern, who had previously confessed to being a serial killer plaguing Pittsburgh, has now recanted his confession, claiming police coercion. That leaves reporter Julia questioning her job as a newspaper reporter, whose secondary job is writing and starring in a sensation podcast aimed at ginning up an audience for the struggling paper. Higgins and Buccellato do a great job of demonstrating how the once-idealistic newspaper staff have compromised their beliefs so they can continue to earn a living.
There’s plenty of other things to love about this issue and the series in general. If only the creative team can follow the lesson they are delivering in the book and not give into the sensational.
No/One #5 will be available for purchase tomorrow.
