by Brian LeTendre
After reading the oversized final issue of Dial H, I had two thoughts--I was bummed to see the series go after only sixteen issues, but I’m amazed it lasted this long.
Not because of the quality, mind you. Dial H was consistently one of the most well-written and wonderfully drawn series of the past several years. But it was also dense, complicated, and at times brain-breaking. China Mieville’s story of inter-dimensional superpower-swapping heroes and villains could make some of Grant Morrison’s trippier work seem straightforward and simple.
And the finale is no exception. There is so much story being told in this issue, that even the extra pages are not enough to hold it. While Mieville does an admirable job of trying to answer most of the series’ questions, this issue feels still like six rolled into one. I’ve read it three times already and I’ll still don’t understand everything that happened. I did enjoy every page of it though, and Mieville squeezes every bit out of the pages he has.
Even though I couldn’t keep up with Mieville, artist Alberto Ponticelli had no problems whatsoever. As he has since he came aboard mid-series, Ponticelli handles all the action, the crazy characters and the mind-blowing concepts with ease. I truly believe his run on this book will go down as one of the greats.
It’s an understatement to say that Dial H was cancelled before its time. The great thing about this series is that it will be reread and examined for years to come, and I fully expect it to do well in trades as more people discover what they missed the first time around.
If you haven’t read Dial H, go grab the first trade right now and see what you’ve been missing.
5 out of 5 Standing Ovations
After reading the oversized final issue of Dial H, I had two thoughts--I was bummed to see the series go after only sixteen issues, but I’m amazed it lasted this long.
Not because of the quality, mind you. Dial H was consistently one of the most well-written and wonderfully drawn series of the past several years. But it was also dense, complicated, and at times brain-breaking. China Mieville’s story of inter-dimensional superpower-swapping heroes and villains could make some of Grant Morrison’s trippier work seem straightforward and simple.
And the finale is no exception. There is so much story being told in this issue, that even the extra pages are not enough to hold it. While Mieville does an admirable job of trying to answer most of the series’ questions, this issue feels still like six rolled into one. I’ve read it three times already and I’ll still don’t understand everything that happened. I did enjoy every page of it though, and Mieville squeezes every bit out of the pages he has.
Even though I couldn’t keep up with Mieville, artist Alberto Ponticelli had no problems whatsoever. As he has since he came aboard mid-series, Ponticelli handles all the action, the crazy characters and the mind-blowing concepts with ease. I truly believe his run on this book will go down as one of the greats.
It’s an understatement to say that Dial H was cancelled before its time. The great thing about this series is that it will be reread and examined for years to come, and I fully expect it to do well in trades as more people discover what they missed the first time around.
If you haven’t read Dial H, go grab the first trade right now and see what you’ve been missing.
5 out of 5 Standing Ovations
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