Written by: Joe Casey
Art by: Mike Huddleston
Colours by: Mike Huddleston
Letters by: Rus Wooton
Cover by: Mike Huddleston
Published by: Image
Cover Price: $2.99 (USD)
The delay between #7 and #8 of this series has been massive, at almost ten months. I knew it had been a while, but I didn’t realise it had been quite this long. This is also the final issue of Butcher Baker, again something I didn’t realise until I actually reached the end. But is this comicbook good enough to warrant the delay and does it reach a satisfying conclusion? The answer to both questions is yes, but you might as well read the whole review anyway.
One testament to this series is that I didn’t need to go back to the first seven issues to try and remember what was going on. I just picked up this issue and read it as if it was only a month since I had read the previous issue. That is impressive; especially as there are some other series where I’ve forgotten what happened by the next day. However one may feel about Butcher Baker, it is certainly memorable and very different to most other comicbooks.
I wasn’t sure he was going to be able to, but Casey does tie everything together and conclude all the threads more than satisfactorily. Butcher vs. Jihad, Butcher and Arnie and The Absolutely all have their threads ended well and I know Casey enjoyed doing it. This is the final issue of a strange and creative series, so I don’t want to say more than that, but I wasn’t disappointed and I’m glad Casey and Huddleston took the time to finish this series how they wanted to. I just hope Casey gets some more issues completed before he launches Sex and Bounce.
Obviously, Huddleston’s art is as impressive as ever and is probably the best art in the series. I have never seen a single artist who is able to switch between stark black white and red, deep full colours and bright cosmic styles; Huddleston does it all so well. It may have taken a long time for this comicbook to be released, but it is clear how much time and effort that has been put into every page. I’m not advocating massive delays and Casey admits embarrassment about it in the back matter, but I’m sure I’d rather have it like this than have had a fill in or rushed finale.
There are probably some people who have read Butcher Baker who think I’m crazy for liking this comicbook or think I should be complaining about the delays, but I don’t care. Butcher Baker is weird, entertaining, creative, memorable, never boring and not even close to being polished and perfect and that’s what I like about it. Casey and Huddleston did what they wanted to do and no one can complain about that.
8/10
