Crush and Lobo #8 wraps the series up with mayhem-filled, fourth wall busting team-up between father and daughter Czarnian. Both Crush and Lobo are back in jail together, and they have to find some way to get out and maybe learn some life lessons along the way. Well, maybe not the life lessons part as Mariko Tamaki’s narrator voice for Crush continues to be snarky and fun as hell firmly planting her into the anti-hero category if not as scummy as her father. And, thankfully, Crush and Lobo #8 isn’t all talking heads as Amancay Nahuelpan and Tamra Bonvillain bring the property destruction and colorful aliens to wrap the storyline up with some familiar faces from earlier in the series making a return.
I love Crush and Lobo #8 goes from probing the relationship between Crush and Lobo as well as ideas like nature vs nurture, or if people (Aliens in this case) can really change to just being snarky one-liners and punching. Tamaki’s narration adds layers to what was already a fun action book, and she and Nahuelpan play with different tropes like big romantic gestures and fight first and team-up later. However, this comic ends up being about Crush taking control of her own destiny and not being the teen version of her dad although she is skilled at taking money to bring in alien criminals. But that’s not all she does as Crush still holds a torch for Katie and is still on decent terms with the Titans even though she missed a lot of Red Arrow’s texts in space. After eight issues, Mariko Tamaki and Amancay Nahuelpan have definitely forged a unique and lively personality for Lobo and leave the door open for them or other creators to craft more funny, violent, and maybe slightly heartbreaking adventures for her.
Even if Crush and Lobo end up punching a lot of robot therapists in the head with colorful blood effects from Bonvillain, Crush and Lobo #8 takes a fair and smart approach to therapy that Crush applies to her own experience with clairvoyant aliens and Katie, who goes to therapy. It’s not about being the subject of a book or science experiment or a lost cause, but about learning about yourself and coping mechanisms from an intuitive, well-trained third party aka not the robots in Lobo’s prison. Change is difficult, but still doable, especially in small ways. This applies to Crush and Lobo as Tamaki and Nahuelpan don’t make sweeping changes to Crush’s status quo (And as the more well-known of the pair, Lobo is an incredibly static character.), but have her make small changes and do-overs. For example, she’s honest about her feelings towards Katie and drinks coffee like a regular customer instead of blowing up the space coffee shop. Crush isn’t going to be a paragon of good any time soon, but her messiness and the fact that she might actually give a shit underneath the quips and cool exterior is what makes her a character that I could connect to and can definitely anchor her own series.
Crush and Lobo concludes with big splashy punches and pages from Amancay Nahuelpan seasoned with self-aware scripting from Mariko Tamaki and a color palette from Tamra Bonvillain that ranges from garish to sterile depending on if the scene is set on cool planets or in jail. It’s an entertaining series and definitely proves that Crush can stand on her own apart from her more famous father even though their interactions led to a lot of humor and a little bit of soul searching.
Story: Mariko Tamaki Art: Amancay Nahuelpan
Colors: Tamra Bonvillain Letters: Ariana Maher
Story: 8.0 Art: 8.4 Overall: 8.2 Recommendation: Buy
DC Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Purchase: comiXology – Kindle – Zeus Comics
Source: Graphic Policy
