Y’know the problem with going looking for a madman like the Stickman? Eventually, you might find him… Your Major Spoilers review of Minor Threats #4 from Dark Horse Comics awaits!
MINOR THREATS #4
Writer: Patton Oswalt/Jordan Blum
Artist: Scott Hepburn
Colorist: Ian Herring
Letterer: Nate Piekos of Blambot
Editor: Daniel Chabon
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: February 1, 2023
Previously in Minor Threats: Betrayed by one of their own and at the mercy of the maniac, they set out to kill, the Minor Threats are sent on a suicide mission by the Stickman into the inner sanctum of the Insomniac.
Which of our not-quite-heroes will make it out unscathed?
WHO AMONG US IS THE BETRAYER?
Having found the monstrous Stickman, our “heroes” (Playtime, Scalpel, Brain Tease, Pigeon Pete, and Snake Stalker) get to hear his justification for it all, including the murders of Kid Dusk, all of Insomniac’s other villains, and the chaos that Stickman has been brewing throughout Twilight City. He also implants tiny bombs in their necks and teleports them DIRECTLY INTO THE INSOMNIAC’S SECRET BASE! As he listens in, Stickman is horrified to hear the five villains turn on one another, murdering one another due to all their old grudges. When he teleports in to find out if his plan has fallen apart, he finds only bodies…
…and then, Playtime’s plan really starts to unfold!
NOT WHAT I EXPECTED
After three wildly divergent points of view in the previous issues, this time we take on Pigeon Pete, whose age gives him a different view of Twilight City and the increasing nonsense of the supervillain business. It’s a good way to contrast old-school villains against the ’80s-style psychopaths like Stickman. There are some brutal murders to be had, including one that took me absolutely by surprise and all of which look amazing under Hepburn’s pen. The inevitable confrontation with The Insomniac also surprises me visually, with a beautiful final blow by Pigeon Pete himself, and not one, but THREE Chekhov’s gun moments in play. I honestly don’t want to give away the most devastating moments of the story, but be aware that the “Who will survive?” is not the usual comic book hyperbole for this book.
BOTTOM LINE: A STYLISH ENDING
All in all, Minor Threats #4 does something ingenious for a story that feels like it was gonna be a familiar villain-to-hero tale, ending up being more complex, more adult (in a good way), and more adult (in a bad way) than I ever expected, with impressive art rolling up for 4 out of 5 stars overall. If you think you know where Minor Threats was going, I’m here to tell you, you probably didn’t, and that makes me as a reader very happy.
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MINOR THREATS #4
It's appropriately horrible closure for the story that pokes holes in all the super-hero tropes, and you should definitely pick it up.
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Writing8
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Art8
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Coloring8
Once upon a time, there was a young nerd from the Midwest, who loved Matter-Eater Lad and the McKenzie Brothers... If pop culture were a maze, Matthew would be the Minotaur at its center. Were it a mall, he'd be the Food Court. Were it a parking lot, he’d be the distant Cart Corral where the weird kids gather to smoke, but that’s not important right now... Matthew enjoys body surfing (so long as the bodies are fresh), writing in the third person, and dark-eyed women. Amongst his weaponry are such diverse elements as: Fear! Surprise! Ruthless efficiency! An almost fanatical devotion to pop culture! And a nice red uniform.