| SYNOPSIS: A brutal crime is carried out, but the criminals themselves are gunned down while trying to escape. Their killer and his fearfully accurate guns fade away into the night...literally. Planetary has just witnessed a true myth, as the reported sightings of the phantom cop of Hong Kong are verified. Investigating, they learn that he was, in life, Detective Shek Chi-Wai, killed in the line of duty while uncovering the criminal organization of the triads. Betrayed and murdered by his partner, Mok, he returns to exact his terrible revenge while Planetary observes. They learn that he is only the latest betrayed cop executed in Hong Kong, whose ghost has returned to take revenge, and he won't be the last. They also unearth an unimaginably huge object which The Drummer calls a large information repository -- it stores ghosts -- and Chi-Wai calls God. Completing his mission with Mok's bloody death, Chi-Wai offers Planetary only a grim message of what awaits in the afterlife: "After this, there's nothing. Do you see?" The detective has found his revenge, but it does little to bring him peace. REVIEW: Like something out of a John Woo film, bitter enemies clash with guns blazing and spitting death. In this battle one side is all but assured of victory -- because, of course, he's already dead. Like the members of Planetary themselves, we're riveted to the drama and its bloody outcome. But despite the vicarious thrills of seeing a wronged man take his revenge on his killers, we are left with a grim and hollow lesson. Death does not bring peace, or contentment to the dead, nor does revenge. No happy afterlife awaits the good man struck down prematurely. "This time is all we have; we can't allow anyone to take it away from us," laments the ghost. "You people came looking for a mystery. But there is none. There's just us." "Did he say justice?" muses the Drummer. "No," corrects the ice-cold Snow, who probably came to grips with this fact decades ago. "Just us." Cassaday's best work in the series, and one of Ellis' more despairing tales (which takes some doing). Even more remarkable are the deep, rich colors by Laura DePuyand David Baron, as vivid as anything ever seen in a comic. Blue-black skies, red-orange faces, ghostly pale blues. Throw in an intangible ghost who fades in and out of the panel and you've got some striking stuff that barely even needs a story to complement it. Riveting.
| |  Random Thoughts:Cassaday gets better every issue. There doesn't seem to be a mood he can't set. Colorists DePuy and Baron provide stunning work. Personal favorite John Woo film: Hard-Boiled. We learn that Planetary is at least six years old. Even Jakita was unaware it was more than four, according to her. Our heroes aren't so seasoned and jaded that they aren't awestruck by the sight of a ghost in action. Death sucks, and the dead don't seem to be all that philosophical about it. RATING: 10/10. Great spooky, cinematic fun, albeit with a very dark tone.
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