Comics
[Comic Book Review] “Wild’s End” #6 Offers A Brave Ending
Reviewed By: Torin Chambers. “Wild’s End” has finally come to a close that’s sure to polarize readers. It’s decidedly rough around the edges, you’d figure the finale would have most of this ironed out but that’s just not the case. There’s some strange writing choices that I still can’t wrap my head around and a few visual choices during the action that don’t portray what’s actually supposed to be happening all that well. It’s not a conclusion without merits though.
WRITTEN BY: Dan Abnett
ART BY: I.N.J Culbard
PUBLISHER: BOOM! Studios
PRICE: $2.99
RELEASE: February 11, 2015
The ending is ultimately a brave choice and one that I believe pays off, although I’m sure many people will be put off by it. Your opinions about Wild’s End and your overall enjoyment of this series will hinge on how you take that final page.
Wasting no time Wild’s End #6 picks up right in the thick of it. Our heroes are still being chased by the alien light post but have put a fair amount of distance between them and the beast. They pull up onto the old Squire’s estate and quickly formulate a plan. Use his wheat harvester against the alien as Mr. Fawkes bravely volunteers to be the distraction, hopefully giving them enough time to figure out how to operate the machine.
Now Fawkes and Alph’s subplot here is one of my biggest gripes with this issue. For an incredibly frustrating and confusing reason Mr. Fawkes chooses Alph to ride shotgun and be his loader, for the shotgun. Out of everyone available he chooses the one person who has incredibly damaged hands, so much so that Alph couldn’t even use them at all last issue. He then only uses the shotgun once so what was the point? Why leave to be the distraction with an unloaded gun and then why force the one person who shouldn’t be physically able to load the gun, load the gun for you? Even with that mess aside why does Fawkes drive to the middle of a field, shoot at the alien lamp once then just sit there waiting there to be blasted? You could say this is all because Fawkes is a vagrant fool, but he’s proved himself quite capable numerous times leading up to this moment so that’s no excuse. Then on top of all that the alien lamp shoots their car, it flips over and that’s that. [SPOILER] Or apparently not, several pages later Fawkes just casually shows up to help finish the alien with no explanation of how he and Alph escaped their fate. I guess the alien just gave up and turned around after it flipped the car.
I have a couple other gripes, such as how the attack on the alien lamp doesn’t make sense visually, but that’s getting real nit-picky. Abnett and Culbard have overall created a delightful tale of Peter Rabbit meets War of The Worlds. It may have faltered in this final issue, but as a whole it’s a strong, original piece of work that I still wholeheartedly recommend.
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Torin Chambers is a rad dude from the nineties who does film stuff or something. Thomas the Tank Engine is his favorite transformer. Find him on Twitter @TorinsChambers
The supernatural world of Korean folk horror movie Exhuma grows larger with the arrival of prequel spinoff webtoon Maengjong this weekend, Variety reports today.
Naver Webtoon debuts Maengjong on May 30.
The series hails from Haemuri (Olgami) and will trace the high school origins of how shaman duo Hwarim and Bonggil, played by Kim Go-eun and Lee Do-hyun in the 2024 film, came together to face occultish threats.
The story is set to begin when “Hwarim, who has been concealing her identity following a childhood encounter with a snake spirit called Jin, crosses paths with Bonggil at their school.”
Variety notes that Exhuma director Jang Jae-hyun participated in the project’s early concept stage.
“We are presenting ‘Maengjong,’ a new series capturing the appeal of the horror-occult genre, ahead of the full summer season,” said Lee Jeong-geun, Naver Webtoon’s Korea webtoon content leader. “With the high school story of Hwarim and Bonggil, who left a strong impression in the film ‘Exhuma,’ enhanced by Haemuri’s characteristic tense direction, we expect it will be a welcome work for genre fans.”
“It is meaningful that the spin-off story of ‘Exhuma,’ loved by many audiences, expands by meeting the new grammar of webtoon,” said Lee Hyeon-jeong, managing director of the film business division at Showbox, which distributed the film. “We hope it will be a fresh experience for both film fans and webtoon readers.”
Exhuma was a breakout hit in 2024, becoming the first Korean occult film to surpass 10 million ticket buyers and the country’s highest-grossing film of the year. I wrote in my review that “the intricately woven Exhuma delivers one of the year’s biggest surprises in horror so far.”
The bond between Hwarim and Bonggil was one of the film’s highlights, making this prequel webtoon a must for fans.
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