5 out of 5

With ‘The Last Broadcast,’ writer André Sirangelo has pulled off an amazing feat: giving us a seven part mystery – blended with tones of conspiracy, no less – that never topples under its own weight or disappoints with its conclusion.  Even seasoned mystery writers have trouble dealing with the after-effects, on occasion; after all, we’ve seen / heard it all before, so to distract us from that a lot of hoopla sometimes becomes necessary, which only ends up making the revelations that much more anti-climactic when you realizes that much of what you read was set dressing.  But ‘Broadcast’ earns every beat, each issue slowly evolving things but offering plenty of payoff; it turns out to be ideal for a comic book, because Sirangelo expands into each issue, focusing on story and character first, allowing the mystery to percolate in the background.  As a book, we might be more impatient with the need to ‘classify’ things and so the delaying tactic might not’ve paid off, but split up into 7 parts, with plenty of other interesting things going on – regarding magic, regarding urban exploration, as well as the general puzzle of how the time-splintered narrative fits into the larger puzzle – this comic, by, possibly, a first time writer, astounds in its competent pacing and confidence in story-telling.

So Ivan is a magician.  Sort of.  He’s failed at it several time, and keeps forgetting to thank his friend Alex, who’s helped him set up his act.  Out of cash, he considers writing a book on the mysterious life and death of notorious magician Blackhall, who was supposedly shot in a trick-gone-wrong years ago.  Research into the book leads him down some odd alleyways, though, including one that gives him access to a super-secret speakeasy, populated by a group of “urban explorers” – kids who “hack” the city by mapping the areas long thought lost or forgotten.  Their agendas end up crossing, and maybe Blackhall was part of some decades-old conspiracy that involves a frighteningly powerful organization called the S.P.I… who, whoops, are now after Ivan and gang…

The way the story carefully steps through the history makes each installment valuable, to the extent that you’d take any part of the tale – the magic, the exploration – and be happy reading about that.  That it’s all tied together is incredibly rewarding, as are the climactic reveals in issues 5, 6 and 7 when the Why of everything is kicked up a notch, but not so much as to overwhelm what’s come before.  You’re still primarily concerned with these characters, and with their story.  It’s a fascinating balance.

The glossy Archaia covers and book design (Scott Newman) are perfect; the ‘extras’ – codes, diary entries – really up the world-building ante, bringing you in to the spirit of things.  Gabriel Iumazark’s scratchy, desaturated art has a wonderfully organic and human side to it, with voices equally well-defined by Deron Bennett’s letters; each character reads like flesh and blood, and as I’ve mentioned a couple times above, the focus on these characters is what makes the mystery so satisfying throughout.  The action sequences don’t always hold up with the expressive style and lack of colors, and along those lines, the sound effects are troubled to find the right layer in the art in which to sit.  These are minor nits, though, in a book that otherwise impresses in every regard.

Part of me does wish that last page had “look for volume 2!” or some such promise, but it’s nice to have a fully told story, and one that feels enmeshed in all of its elements without making any of them feel superfluous to the overall tale.