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“I think it’s my best issue yet, but god damn, I hate it, too” Michel Fiffe on Copra #21
What you take in, you give out. Energy can be neither created nor destroyed. Everything you do is the sum total of your entire history, every moment of of everyday. What happens in Copra #21 has been seeded since the series inception but in the back matter the events that the creator experienced prior to the issues actual creation can’t help but add another dimension and layer to the experience it creates, whether or not what’s described in the back matter has anything to do with the actual quality of the issue itself.
Let’s get to down to brass tax off jump; issue #21 of Copra is a fucking monster. While the previous installment was all build up, character work, atmosphere and intrigue, this months story is where all of that erupts into a frantic, kinetic and non stop fight to the near death. It’s all of what was built up in the last issue and issues past, exploding into pure brutal action. It’s an entire issue of raw fighting, barely any dialogue, just the sum total of a long standing betrayal that equates to raw violence. Fiffe renders it all in a way that’s stunning, he switches in and out different styles, he utilizes the environment in unique ways, he let’s the fight twist and turn, he communicates the characters feelings with the art in a different method on each page, but all of that never interrupts the fluidity of the narrative. It’s an incredibly smooth reading experiences in it’s visual storytelling even though it’s more dependent on that factor of it’s methodology, and is taking more risks with it then is typical of the medium. Though it’s technically not 100% a silent issue, there’s a little dialogue in the last two pages, it’s one of the best uses of the conceit I’ve seen in quite some time.
As for the back matter, I’ll leave that to you to go find and read. Let’s just say that it’s appropriate for the theme of family that’s lead to the events of this issue. Speaking of family; I’m going to spend what little moments I have left with mine as you should with yours if you got it. Copra #21 is the sum total of everything that’s happened prior to this moment, all the joy, all the pain and everything in between, and it made me feel all of it.
