4 out of 5

While certainly smaller in scope than Westward, Dry Spell still blazes quite an impressive path across its four issues, only losing its grip on its boldness in its final pages.  But to be fair, I’d have no Earthly idea how to wrap this up correctly, and so the open-endedness Ken gives us (indeed, the last page advertises Dry Spell 2) is probably better than forcing some massive conclusion on things.

With Westward, describing it effectively to underline its scope is a struggle, but Dry Spell presents a new challenge: saying anything is almost saying too much.  So let it suffice to say that the story deals with the middle age doldrums with which we can all relate: feeling like we once were something, and now having no idea where that something went, or what we are now.  This is told to us via scrawled lettering that stems from main character Tom’s brain, juxtaposed with the cleanly lettered, boxed narration, and the free-flow pitter patter of Ken’s naturalistic dialogue.  Two narrative voices at odds then.  And then there’s Tom’s disapproval of local hero Apollo, the love of the city.  What could he possibly have against him?

Krekeler doesn’t play like this is four parts, letting things evolve organically, showing us Tom’s everyday existence, hinting that there was actually some real Something in his past after all.  He sits, staring at a blank canvas in his basement, mind coming around to these thoughts of the need for power…

Flipping between surreal layouts and tightly paneled pages, Dry Spell brings us up to speed on Tom’s mid life crisis, and how he deals with it.  Krekeler’s skill with his story construction is that he doesn’t push this too far in any direction to make us say yea or nay for Tom.  He comes across as human, and we understand his dilemma, and when he sinks into more selfish behaviors, we can hear our own selfish thoughts echoed in his, making it easier to play along as things get worse.

…But I’ve already said way too much.  The problem with approaching “real” issues like this, though, is that there can’t be a conclusion, and that’s the roadblock we run into here.  There are still some interesting concepts splayed out here, though, before those final cards are simply lain down to distract us with some story reveals, and the trip to get there via Ken’s unique art and writing style is otherwise damned satisfying.  Here’s hoping Dry Spell 2 becomes a reality.