Oliver Davis reviews East of West #15…
“THE GREAT BEAST” The son of Xiaolain and Death faces the Horsemen and becomes everything that the Message foretold. Apocalypse: Year One concludes with EAST OF WEST #15.”
And just when you thought an epic battle was about to be waged between Texas and The Endless Nation…East of West cuts half way across its intricately-built world to Asia, home of the Republic – very, very far away from the action, and much, much closer to a whole load of talky stuff. It’s a bit frustrating, but the book’s events do seem to be snowballing at last. A world war has been ignited, the Horsemen are off to murder a child and Death’s son has finally broken free of the wires and machinery that have restrained his power thus far.
Upon standing, Death Jr. asks, “WHAT’S REALLY THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A HYPER ACCURATE SIMULATION AND REALITY ITSELF?” It’s a line somewhat charming in its clunkiness and the innocence of this immenseley powerful being is wonderfully disarming. Then the following page happens, a page so pretentious it almost ruined an entire issue. The page is wholly devoted to a single word: ‘nothing,’ in size 16 font.
Jonathan Hickman has been walking a pompous tightrope throughout the entirity of East of West, but this page is his most death-defying misstep yet. Just glimpsing at the single word on that page is enough to trigger flashbacks to maddeningly irritating philosophy know-it-alls from school. It’s as though each letter wears a lop-sided beret, holding an esperesso in one hand whilst patronisingly looking back at you asking ‘Que?’
The rest of the issue struggles to recover from its initial self-absorption. The prison-escape sequence is well-executed, and the flash of fear on the Three Horsemen’s faces are a nice touch of humanity, but the bad, asshole-like taste remains on your palette. Until, that is, the last few pages, where Death’s child names himself ‘Babylon,’ and his robot sidekick ‘Balloon.’ Still clad in the machine armour from his cell, Babylon sees only death and destruction through his visor. “WE HAVE TO DESTROY THIS AWFUL PLACE…” he mutters in horror in dramatic irony, as he is revealed to be standing in the greenest, most lushly expansive field. The Horsemen might be out of the way, but a new sinister force has emerged in the previously benign Balloon.
Oliver Davis is one of Flickering Myth’s co-editors. You can follow him on Twitter (@OliDavis).
Originally published September 12, 2014. Updated November 28, 2022.
