4 out of 5

I love it.  Even in the incredibly self-involved Hellboy universe, we don’t get the same vibe of in-house world-building Fiffe is doing with Copra.  As a one man shop, dedicated to bringing his own ideas to light – ideas which just so happen to be informed by Suicide Squad, and Kirby, and classic Avengers and Byrne and more – Michel Fiffe has made the wild, kaleidoscopic journey of this comic amazingly unique while winking at the audience the whole while with loving tributes to his influences.  And his honesty on the pages and in the backmatter is refreshing: when he talks about wanting to experiment with more exposition or accessible plotting, you see the results, for better or worse, right on the page.

…The better or worse is the tossup, here.  We’re getting all the soap opera and event madness of Marvel and DC, boiled down to a core (if still sprawling) cast and plot-threads that have proven to be a lot longer lasting – 30 issues! – than I would have imagined during Copra acts 1 and 2.  Seeing Fiffe try on different narrative / visual styles is impressive – and you can tell the driving force is to find a beat that fits, not just show off – but it’s also something of a gamble, as he might stumble into a vibe you dig, only to do away with it next issue.  Admittedly, I’m not as much of a fan of the over-exposition as I am of the in-the-midst-of-it breathless pacing of where we began, but I’m also excited by how much this story has grown and evolved (and Fiffe’s art, too, has become stunningly detailed without contradicting or undermining his imaginative layouts).  And once more, to his credit, he speaks admirably of proper editing oversight (specifically Gruenwald) in the editorial bit and somewhat laments not having that guidance.

In these issues, our various Copra subsections are sub-tasked, re-routed, and brought back together for some awesome twists and pastiches.  The Dr. Doom aside of Count Compota (I totally didn’t realize that was that character’s reference) feels like it takes up a bit too much time and issue space, but I sense the pieces its put into play will be valuable down the road.