Review: Denver Moon #3
The brilliance of Philip K. Dick’s writing is one that has transported readers who have the luck of coming across his stories. His primary audience was science fiction but the more one looks into his writing, the audience he truly spoke to was simply human. The way he wrote human condition is what usually pulls readers into his books. His landmark work, Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep, spoke of how we treat others who are different through the allegory of using androids.
This vision was originally realized in the much lauded but classic Blade Runner, which was about a detective investigating the killing of androids. In the sequel, Blade Runner 2049 everything comes full circle and serves to be even more faithful to the spirit of the original work. As with most works about a robot apocalypse, it is not truly about robots but about how humans react to “others” integrating into society. In the third and final issue of Denver Moon, our hero gets closer to the murderer and to the truth, one of them which will change everything.
We catch up with Denver as she escapes certain doom at the hands of Rafe, instead finding a submerged escape route and begins putting together the clues. The trail leads Denver to an uncomfortable truth, that leads back to her client and a truth was comfortable with her knowing. As the truth about the Bot is played through a series of flashbacks, which reveals how fluid identity is, even for androids. By story’s end, a tragedy could not be averted, and Denver’s outlook becomes changed forever.
Overall, it’s an excellent story that ends with a twist that speaks where we are in the world and how even the most progressive minds can be wrong. The story by Warren Hammond and Joshua Viola subverts tropes and shows the human condition in all its naked glory. The art by the creative team is compelling and vivid. Altogether, it’s beautiful and action-packed, blends genres, a tells a smart story. It does it all behind some gorgeous vistas.
Story: Warren Hammond and Joshua Viola
Art: Matt Hubel, Aaron Lovett, Matt Van Scoyk and Jaymes Reed
Story: 10 Art: 9.6 Overall: 9.8 Recommendation: Buy
My favorite police procedural movies are when the undercover police officer is so deep in, they barely know who they are any longer. One of the prime examples, is a show I’m currently watching that comes on the BBC, called No Offence. One of the main storylines follows a detective who’s undercover in a Islamic hate group. She breaks off all contact with her superiors and becomes embroiled in the group to almost not knowing what her true purpose is.
As a voracious reader of books, I have always loved private detective novels. There’s something so appealing in that world. You have people with complicated histories, who usually operate in the shadows, and though they live in the moral gray they eventually do the right thing. One of my favorite book series growing up was Robert Parker’s Spenser For Hire books, who lived in Boston and usually had his best friend Hawk watching his back. The television show was just as legendary in my mind. It starred the iconic Robert Urich in the titular role and ran for a few seasons. He exuded grit and coolness in the same breath. One of my other favorite private detectives in fiction was Bob Hoskins’ Eddie Valiant in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?. His portrayal reminded me of the cool investigators of Dashiel Hammett’s books.