Plot: Tying up loose ends.

Comments: The bulk of Hawksmoor has played out like a private detective story. The structure, plot points and twists, the narrative angle, every beat echoed with the sound of a private dick adventure. It made for a highly satisfying experience. The execution was great. Pitch perfect in fact, and the look and feel of the story (courtesy of Fiona Staples’ enticing artwork) was spot on. It was so good, in fact that I almost forgot how the story started; the Authority fighting a losing battle against a primal god in Russia. Issue #6, the final in this limited series, wraps up all the loose treads in the meat of the story and bookends the action packed opening with pretty much non-stop action and a logical and exciting resolution. This issue opens with a flashback in a flashback; a sepia toned page of young Jack getting smacked around by some bullies. Jack makes his stand and learns what he’s made of. Jump to the ’94 flashback in Tokyo and the new bully on the block is a City God from the 70th century who is basically responsible for all of Jack’s troubles. The battle rages throughout most of the book. The problem Jack faces is that confronting a City God in a city is “like trying to drown an ocean.” Most of his good smash-up tricks come up short. But Jack is a resourceful guy and his solution makes perfect sense. The City God of the 70th century meets a bloody and none too ironic end.

In previous reviews I have mentioned Jack’s bad blood with San Francisco. This is the past event that the detective has to reconcile with to succeed in the current situation, an essential plot point in a gumshoe story. This is one of those dangling threads that gets tied up here and it dovetails in an obvious way with the City God (I did say he was responsible for most of Jack’s pain). It is a bit curious that the climax takes place in Tokyo; with all the time spent in San Fran it would’ve made more sense (and enhanced Jack’s reconciliation with the city) if he had the big throw down there but that is one small misstep in an otherwise sterling story. There is a good crack about Tokyo and giant monsters that almost makes it worthwhile anyway. Jack’s gained deeper understanding of how to talk to cities from his experience in San Fran and it shows in his handling of the bookend fight with the ancient god in Kiev. Midnighter drops in for a little extra support too. Another nice tie-up of plot threads making the entire tapestry of the story solid and enjoyable. My only real complaints are that the bookend story seems a bit rushed and the last line of the book comes across just this side of corny, minor quips for a story that has really delivered the goods on all fronts.

A bit more on Fiona Staples art -- her rendering of the City God is a fantastic character design. Imagine something like Ganesh made up of raw Blade Runner Los Angeles and filled with a seriously bad attitude. A cool trick, one that reads “City God” instantly, though you have no clear idea of what one would look like. Her characters are a bit angular and stylized but still had the rich detail needed to understand the action and the emotions of the characters. Her layouts really captured the tension and rhythms of the story and always hit the right epic note where needed.

Final Word: Hawksmoor rounds out to be one of my favorite reads of the year, and considering the volume of strong material, that’s saying a lot. As uneven as The Authority has been, the spin-off books (Midnighter and Hawksmoor) have compensated. I would suggest that Mike Costa would be an excellent choice to take up the series when the slot opens. He’s proved he can do some great things with Jack Hawksmoor. Maybe he can do the same for the rest of the team.

"Who is Crazy Mary?"

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