Lives have been switched, but now the consequences fall on Juniper and Cason. Will either of them survive? And if they do, whose body will they be inhabiting? Your Major Spoilers review of Crosswind #6 awaits!
CROSSWIND #6
Writer: Gail Simone
Illustrator: Cat Staggs
Colorist: Cat Staggs
Letterer: Simon Bowland
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Previously in Crosswind: “The shattering climax to this pulse-racing crime fantasy! Housewife Juniper Blue and hitman Cason Bennett have switched lives and the answers to how that happened dangle before them at last—just as a team of professional killers descend on their suburban hideout. Who lives, who dies, and what name goes on the gravestones?”
FAST-PACED AND ENGAGING
So, the premise of this book is one of those shopworn things that has launched a thousand movies, some starring Dudley Moore, but the life that Simone and Staggs and friends put into it is amazing. Cason, the former tough-guy hitman has actually come to enjoy her life in the suburbs as a housewife, and even improved things a bit by jettisoning the dead weight of her husband James. As for Juniper, her new life is more complicated, made even more so by Cason’s enemies coming to murder both of them. There’s a LOT of activity in these pages, and every panel of every page works on both the visual and narrative level. All the unfinished business comes home to roost, leaving Juniper, Cason and friends to reenact the Alamo from the most difficult side. The story behind how (and, more importantly, WHY) they have inhabited one another’s bodies is revealed, and there are at least three major surprises in these pages that delighted me as a reader.
I *LOVE* THIS ART
Here’s the thing about this issue: It’s hard to decide what I can safely reveal without damaging your reading experience, but there’s so much entertainment in these pages. Juniper’s stepson as Cason’s consigliere is wonderful stuff, and the arrival of the cavalry in the form of Tucker is a “Hell, YEAH!” moment that is alone worth the price of admission. The way the body-swap is resolved also makes me very happy, though that absolutely IS something you will have to read and enjoy for yourself. Since I feel a bit odd about how vague I’m being, let me tell you some specific things about the issue that are wonderful: Juniper finally confronts her abusive husband, outlining his cowardice and impotence. Cason silently stares down Cruz with a gun to her head, a beautifully crafted moment of art and story. And, best of all, Kelly learns the important lesson that arson is bad, ’cause it makes you a bad neighbor.
THE BOTTOM LINE: SATISFYING *AND* UNEXPECTED
It’s always exciting to see familiar bits of story and trope get turned into something entirely new and different, and this entire series does that with aplomb. Examining matters of gender, of identity and more within the framework of an unorthodox action sequence, Crosswind #6 is a reminder that the comics format doesn’t have to be about capes and shared universes, giving us a fascinating story that would make for an incredible movie but makes for an even more satisfying comic book, earning 5 out of 5 stars overall. Best of all, the last page of the issue promises that this isn’t the last we will see of this cast of characters, and that’s the best news I’ve heard all year. I recommend this one highly, folks…
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