Plastic Farm #6

And back we go to the comics brought home from SPACE 2011. Hoping to finish up this stack soon, since I'll be heading to Anime Boston in about two weeks.

Title: Plastic Farm
Issue: #6
Date: July 2004
Publisher: Plastic Farm Press
Writer: Rafer Roberts
Artist: Rafer Roberts
Cover: Laura Socks, Dave Morgan

If you've been following the reviews, you know that I've been enjoying Rafer Roberts' Plastic Farm. My wife brought home the entire series from the Small Press and Alternative Comics Expo (SPACE) in Columbus OH a few weeks back.

The individual issues have been great, but there has not been a lot of cohesion to the ongoing plot. At times it was difficult to tell if there was an ongoing plot. Well, Plastic Farm #6 goes a long way toward providing that cohesion. We even get a convenient timeline of major events from previous issues. And we get some significant crossover of characters from past issues.

And zombies.

Among many other things. We open with Chester snowed in at the airport bar telling his tale to the bartender and a baggage handler. The story covers Chester's high school years following his attempted suicide, and it introduces some additional supernatural elements.

Roberts does a nice job of tweaking the cliches, so as to keep familiar patterns like the high school outcast and the bullying victim pushed over the edge from becoming too familiar. His minor characters are especially strong in this issue, and they provide much of the flavor that makes this story work so well.

Rating: 7.5/10