[LNH/Acra] Killfile Wars #4

[Tom Russell]

Spoilers.
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   The fourth issue of KILLFILE WARS uses the return of Dr. Killfile as
a framing device, and it's a fairly neat and effective structural idea.
 Killfile and the Ultimate Ninja have an extremely bloody fight and all
the while, Killfile-- ruthless, crisp, efficient-- monologues about how
dark things are for our heroes.

   The action cuts from Killfile/Ninja to several interested parties--
Carolyn Forge, Rick Henkerton, Dalton Asters-- as Killfile mentions
them.  It's neat and orderly, and, like I said, as a structural idea,
it has a fair amount of momentum.

   My big problem with it is that it is, in effective, a big tease:
_why_ is the knock at Carolyn's door so important, _why_ is Rick's
visit with a mysterious net.villain  "simply delicious"?  Killfile
brings up the fact that Dalton will discover his weakness, and I get
the general feeling it has something to do with that strip of tape from
ADVENTURES BEYOND COMPREHENSION # 4.  But, all in all, it's a lot of
sound and subplot, signifying nothing.

   And I trust that all this will be explained in the last two
chapters.  It's not so much that there's anything wrong with this one;
it certainly whets the appetite for explanations that I'm sure will be
forthcoming.  It's structurally very sound and tight, and the fight
scene-- though it has one typo or odd word choice too many for my
comfort-- is straight-forward if not particularly exciting.

   This issue is fine, it's just that on re-reading, it seems somewhat
slight: it is, when you come right down to it, just a fight scene and
about nothing more.

   Still.  Nice to see a ruthless villain, and I'm hoping it all pays
off in the end.

--Tom