Review — ‘Concrete: Stars Over Sand’ #4 Is Excellent

Paul Chadwick‘s Concrete: Stars Over Sand #4, the penultimate chapter of this miniseries, deftly switches from the physical conflicts and danger of the last issue to the more thoughtful, realistic scenarios Chadwick excels at.

— Spoilers Follow —

The early part of this issue focuses on Maureen’s renewed efforts to climb on top of the ascending helicopter and fix the assembly, so the pilot can regain control. She tries repeatedly and sustaining injuries. To be fair, this is not the first time Chadwick has put his characters in harrowing life-or-death situations, and he does it well. It’s surprising that after everything that happens (the pilot refuses to move from the controls, leaving Maureen to take on the full risk and effort of climbing on top of the helicopter), Maureen is still willing to pay the pilot his extortionate fee of $12,000.

I thought that either the pilot would willingly refund her or she would sue him. Mostly silent and unmoving throughout the ordeal, he does not seem like a very sympathetic character except for the time he yells “You go, girl!” as Maureen redoubles her efforts. The anachronistic nature of this phrase and lack of cellphones, plus her unwillingness to become angry with him suggests that this was written a long time ago. Something like Marvel time has been applied to Concrete because Maureen and Larry still seem relatively young, though decades have passed since our three principals have met.

Speaking of Larry, he encounters Concrete before Maureen and the helicopter pilot catch up with them. Concrete doesn’t recognize Larry and is willing to fight him, as he has animals and the hikers during the last issue. Larry is able to trigger some twinges of recognition within Concrete and de-escalate the situation, though Concrete is still far from remembering who his friends are — or who he is, for that matter. This is especially difficult for Maureen as she and Concrete have now established a romantic relationship and even have a baby together.

Larry had to leave the baby (it is in a stable comatose state) alone in its incubator last issue in order to search for Concrete. This issue suggests that though this lapse of judgment isn’t dealt with presently, it will have repercussions later. This feels forced, as Larry was acting out of concern for Concrete and not out of selfishness or immaturity as has happened in past storylines. If anything, Larry seems to have grown or matured, though once again, it’s hard to gauge time in these comics. If the reader pretends it’s the late nineties, the “feel” of the story seems more apt.

Once the action and crises are resolved, Maureen suggests that Concrete go ahead and read a pre-written speech he was to give at a convention for people in the concrete and construction industries — they need the money because, for some reason I can’t fathom, Maureen isn’t insisting the pilot refund their money after she almost died. The speech covers Concrete’s exploits (swimming the Atlantic, climbing Mount Everest, and much, much more) and that gives him a chance to understand who he is and what he’s done. He can hardly believe he’s experienced such adventures. In terms of personality, he seems to have more-or-less returned to his more thoughtful, mild-mannered nature. A doctor warns them that ongoing medical care will be necessary to diagnose, assess, and treat the neurological damage, determine physiotherapy. Also: bouts of rage, anxiety, and depression may crop up unexpectedly.

This all feels like very familiar territory for the comic; the nuanced psychological treatment that distinguishes Chadwick’s writing from many comics out there.

As Concrete returns home, seeing his dog and the paintings on his walls, he feels a pleasing sense of home and warmth, so there is some hope. More importantly, he marvels at the books he’s written about his adventures. He still seems able to read and write, though his memories and understanding of self are impaired. Larry and Maureen hope he will resume writing again, charting a somewhat positive direction for Concrete’s recovery.

Whether Chadwick wrote these pages knowing this would probably be his last major Concrete story in comics form is anyone’s guess. What is certain is that there is a grace and deftness to the way this aspect of the climax is handled. Who hasn’t looked back at the half-remembered episodes of their life from many years ago and not marvelled and wondered that it happened to them? Who hasn’t had anxiety about the future, about what can be done, what one is still capable of, what will happen to oneself?

Concrete being blasted by lightning does present these unique and complex conflicts in very dramatic terms, but the experience is universal: enduring trauma, navigating its aftermath, and finding a way to move on. This is what elevates Chadwick’s writing into the realm of literary finesse. Hopefully, his work will be recognized for the special touch it bears instead of simply being forgotten. I’ll leave off with Chadwick’s own words, excerpted from his Author’s Forum at the back of the issue:

“Stories generally wrap up soon after a crisis. But this one still has twenty pages of aftermath. While there are a couple of twists to come, even a touch of romance, the life-and-death-and-financial-peril moment is complete. Our characters, henceforth, must adjust to ongoing difficulty without hope of a cathartic solution.

This describes most of life, in my experience. Money problems rarely vanish in a lottery-ticket flash. Medical cures are incomplete. We rarely get to see people who vex us fatally tumble off a cliff. Family dysfunction goes on and on.”

Paul Chadwick’s Concrete: Stars Over Sand #4 is out now from Dark Horse Comics.