Boom studios

Review – BRZRKR #6 Publisher: Boom! Studios Writers: Keanu Reeves & Matt Kindt Artist: Ron Garney Colourist: Bill Crabtree Letterer: Clem Robins Release Date: December 15th 2021 I was so relieved when I got to read BRZRKR #6 for review. Finally, I was being given exactly what I have been longing for from this series ever since the first issue released back in February of this year; a high-octane modern day action romp with futuristic violence and military action. This latest issue of BRZRKR sees Unute go on his first modern day mission since the first issue in the series and it is glorious. Seeing the god-like abilities that the character possesses in the modern day, hits so much harder than it did in the Stone Age. There were many visual cues in this issue that put me in mind of Superman, especially the panel that saw Unute raise a tank off of the ground. It never felt forced though, the use of his vast power felt warranted and necessary and thankfully didn’t just feel the writers showing off. Speaking of the book’s authors, the writing in this series is extremely inconsistent in terms of its quality. Mercifully, this issue falls in the positive category in terms of its writing. Not only was the modern day action sequence well written, but the back half of the issue was also effectively penned. Instead of being force fed 20+ pages of Stone Age escapades, this issue instead chooses to sparingly sprinkle in the odd prehistoric flashback to great effect. Brief flashes of Unute’s past are used to draw parallels to the modern day story being told and reflect lessons that he has learned over the years. This is how flashback sequences should have always been used in this series and in fact how they should be used across all media; to cleverly flesh out a character and make the universe feel lived-in. I was actually fairly shocked at just how clever the writing was from both Reeves and Kindt throughout this issue. Something else was addressed in this issue that I have been waiting a while to see. While Jim and Unute are wandering in the woods together, after escaping their crashed chopper, Jim asks our protagonist why he chose to fight for the US government. This is a very valid question, especially when THAT recently leaked Wikileaks video from Iraq in 2007 is still fresh in everyone’s mind. Jim seems as curious as we are why Unute would choose to fight for a government that has proven to be corrupt and self-serving time and time again over any other country or political party. Unute basically tells him that it is because the US have the best means to keep his existence and abilities a secret. This actually makes sense and justifies the character’s choice rather than just making him another All-American Hero. Ron Garney’s art also seems to have been taken up a notch here. I was actually reading some of John Byrne and Ron Garney’s run on Hulk recently and the comparison to his work in BRZRKR only made me appreciate his skill as an artist even more. The action panels really stand out as being visually spectacular and there are some awesome silhouette shots in this issue too. Bill Crabtree’s colour work also works to complement Garney’s illustration and hammer home the tone being strived for on each page in the issue. Overall, I am happy to say in reviewing BRZRKR #6 that this series is finally delivering on what it promised readers almost a full year ago. This is a fantastically written issue that delves deeper into the character of Unute in an interesting way and it left me excited to see where this series will go in future issues.