String #5 – End of the String!

The Mad Cave Studios tale comes to a conclusion in String #5 by Paul Tobin, Carlos Olivares, Sara Colella and Taylor Esposito.

PREVIOUSLY ON STRING #4

Previously, Yoon visited a gang’s bar looking for a black string. It took some wits and thinking on her feet for Yoon to come out of the bar unscathed. There was also the other matter, the unsolved murder of Mateo. This case seemingly solved itself. When Yoon reported back to Enzo, the actual murder of Mateo was one of Enzo’s crew. As soon as this Judas stepped into the room, Yoon noticed a black string. Same black string that connected to Mateo. Crime solved, Yoon got out of dodge so she could claim plausible deniability in the future. Since Enzo was going to issue street justice on his nephew’s murderer.

BACK TO SQUARE ONE

In the end, Issue #4 concluded with Yoon and Detective Mayfield back at the police station where the series began. However, the most important case was still open. Yoon still had a black string attached to her. Without any leads whatsoever. Finally, this duo was attacked in broad daylight on the way home. The assailants kidnapped Yoon. Who took Yoon? Who as the man who attacked them in Yoon’s apartment? What was the deal with the police officer with all the black Strings?

*SPOILERS AHEAD FOR ISSUE #5*

SOLICITATION:

“Being kidnapped is a major problem. Getting taken to a second location is a worse problem. Having the kidnapper be someone who’s already killed several other people, and who can easily get away with another murder? Yeah, that’s a definite complication. Also, ice cream, and Luke NOT reuniting with an old flame, and an unexpected liaison, and Joon desperately hoping to find the right string to wrap things up nicely, rather than the string that will break!”

SHATTERED STORY

This entire black string drama goes all the way back to issue #1. The suspect of the first case from this series is the reason for Yoon’s black string. Sager Hawkins blew himself up when the authorities caught up with him. While his name never came up again in the series, he was impact was not over. Turned out, Sager was the half-brother of Finch Williams, the police officer with all the black strings Yoon saw at the retirement ceremony. Finch kidnapped Yoon with the intent to kill for his half-brother’s death. According to him, it was Yoon’s fault that Sager blew himself up.

HOW ABOUT THE ART?

While the dialogue or the plot of this story blundered from time to time, the art did not. Every single page is filled with life through the detailed pencils and the vibrant colors. I would like to see more from these creative team.

OVERALL GRADE: 6.5/10

As much as I enjoyed the art in this issue and in this series, the conclusion to this arc was poorly written. There is a good, compelling and interesting story here. But it feels rushed or unfinished in certain areas. For example, Finch’s reason for going after Yoon is hallow at best. If there were more issues, I’m positive the writer would have explored a more reasonable motive for the antagonist. Maybe Yoon and Mayfield would have more time to thoroughly investigate Finch and seek justice for the nameless victims. Instead, we got Finch blaming and kidnapping Yoon for is brother explosive demise.

Let us know your thoughts on String #5 in the comment section