Comic book reviews for Echo #27, Echo #28, Echo #29, and Echo #30 by Terry Moore.
Average rating: 4.75/5.
Echo #27 by Terry Moore
I love how this issue is about everyone cracking up. Everyone is getting nervous and anxious about what’s going to happen when they finally find the collider. Even the bad guys seem to be getting nervous.
Ivy having a meltdown is perfect because she is the least unflappable character. Except she’s in a situation where her reality is cracking all around her. Ivy may not remember how she got in the room she woke up in, but she does still figure things out. She’s still calling Tambi. She figures out that Julie is Annie is Julie. But what she doesn’t have anymore is the mental balance for keeping secrets. Which is why she makes Julie/Annie tell the entire group the whole story.
The entire ‘touching her boob in an intimate way’ rant was hilarious. Dillon getting jealous; Annie/Julie trying to prove that it wasn’t sexy touching; Ivy not caring; and Vijay just being embarrassed.
Dillon’s definitely rattled to his core that Annie is still alive. In a way, I love him asking her what dying and the afterlife were like. And I do think that Julie letting Annie kiss Dillon wasn’t just sentiment, but also Julie’s own affections for Dillon.
Echo #28 by Terry Moore
This was the first issue that made me really sad this series only has two more issues.
I felt like Moore was itching to write a Tambi beats up people again scene. I thought it was a nice tie-in to see Stephanie, the former Parker Girl, be Tambi’s pawn. And I thought it was perfect when Ivy told Tambi to go be with the person she loved because the world was really going to end.
However, I feel a little like Ivy about the whole Annie/Julie/Dillon thing. Obviously, either the world’s going to end or there’s going to be some resolution to Annie (and in turn, any affects she’s had on Ivy or Dillon). There are only two ways this comic can go down. And I don’t image that Moore’s going to destroy this world that he loves so much he’s written two comic books in it.
The entire military scene felt very ominous.
Echo #29 by Terry Moore
Holy crap, I love Echo. I really do, and I’m a little down that Moore’s ready to end this journey.
All the characters are reaching their wit’s end. Ivy is racing to save the world, but fed up with Julie’s superpowers, especially with what it’s doing to her body. I like that Ivy is now less than impressed with Julia’s superpowers, in that she’s not sure if they’ll actually save the world. Julia wants to, I think more than even saving the world, figure out how to stop what’s happening to her. (Though I do kind of think that she likes that cold, alien way she’s acting.) Dillon is confused and flustered with everything, and Vijay thinks they are very much insane.
Annie’s point-of-view at the beginning was a nice touch, which gave the issue a different feel to it. I like this idea that she wants to move beyond; that while Julie and Ivy, in many cases, see Annie as hanging onto life, Annie wants to go to what’s next because she realizes that she can’t have Julie’s body.
The whole breaking into the underground secret lab / military base felt very Scoobie gang. I really liked that snarking toward the end of the world. Both the countdown clock and unsureness of it all works really well.
I both cannot wait to read the next issue and am also sad to see Echo end.
Echo #30 by Terry Moore
I am so sad Echo has come to an end. Even if Moore did say a long time ago that he was stopping at issue #30.
Any guesses on what’s in Julie’s box? (I’m thinking that maybe she was a Parker Girl.)
I thought this story did wrap up well, and it wrapped up in the way I thought it would. A semi-happy ending. I never expected the world to blow up, especially since Moore made it clear Echo took place in the same universe as Strangers in Paradise. I just can’t see Moore killing off Francine and Katchoo. Also, given what we see of Julie/Annie at the end, I doubt Moore’s quite done with this story.
One thing I particularly loved about Echo is that while Julie/Annie may have the superpowers, all of them became real heroes in the end. It’s been a while since I’ve read a book where a group met and evolved together to all be heroes around the one friend who is a bona fide superhero. (This is a favorite troupe of mine, see my love of the Scoobies on Buffy: the Vampire Slayer.) Sure, Ivy had her spy training at the start of the book, but she wasn’t a hero until the end. Until even while standing with the freaking superhero, Ivy threw herself in front of those soldiers so they could save the world. Not to mention Dillon and Vijay’s failed subterfuge.
Just fantastic.
Just finished up reading this series. Awesome. One (stupid) question, though: What’s a Parker Girl? Thanks for the review, and I’ll definitely be getting SiP.
Parker Girls are basically a group of mob-like women. They feature heavily into SiP. I don’t want to spoil you too much. 😀