Advance Review: ‘Of The Earth’ #6 Ends The Series With An Unsatisfying Bang
by Tom Smithyman
Over the course of the six issues from the miniseries Of the Earth, Tabby Black has been through a lot. Her Gramma has been turned into a monster, an oil creature is stalking her, and the troubleshooter sent from the oil company has been killed.
After all that, the striking thing about this final issue is how little happens. The oil monster — the wildcatter — chases Tabby. And there’s a forced climax and conclusion. It’s not a satisfying end to a limited series with so many peaks and valleys on the flat Texas oil fields.
Artist Charlie Adlard’s illustrations keep readers turning pages, but it has less to do with his renderings and more to do with trying to understand how Tabby is going to get out of this mess. Adlard’s work in this issue is fine; although despite all the action, they rarely rise above that level.
And it doesn’t help that Pip Martin tends to stick to an orange hue page-after-page. It’s a reminder that not much is changing here, regardless of the action that is playing out “on screen”.
Writers Andrew Ehrich and Chris Condon seem to have run out of steam here, after turning in a previous issue that was the best in the series’ run. It’s too bad that they peaked early, because there’s just not enough “there” there in this outing. It’s just Tabby repeating to herself that she needs to find a way off the haunted ranch. Yeah, we get it. The monster is gonna kill you otherwise? Why? We’ll never know.
With names like Condon and Adlard, we expect more consistency and terror. This series just wasn’t the one to deliver it.
Of the Earth #6 — written by Andrew Ehrich and Chris Condon, illustrated by Charlie Adlard, colored by Pip Martin, and lettered by Hassan Otsman-Elhaou — will be available Wednesday in comic book stores and on digital platforms from Image Comics.
Overview
This limited series, which centers on an oil monster terrorizing a small Texas ranch ends with a big chase scene — unfortunately one that isn’t very satisfying. This mini has has its high points and lows. It’s too bad it ends like this.
