Elephantmen Volume 4 : Questionable Things

Being a massive fan of Sci-fi, genetic mutants with giant guns and comic chicks I find Elephantmen one of the most must read comic series in the world.

You read Wounded Animals, Fatal Diseases and Dangerous Liaisons. Richard Starkings continues the saga with Questionable Things collecting Elephantmen #24-30.

If you are new to Elephantmen I would highly recommend starting with War Toys or Wounded Animals. Issue #1 of Man and Elephantman has also just been released and sold out in about an hour. But if you can find a copy that’s also a great jump on point.

Starting where volume three left off it turns out that the Elephantmen can be reactivated with the aid of neural implants left implanted from the Mapppo days. After a successful outing with Ebony hide a Mappo sleeper cell decide to test out the reactivation process with Hip Flask which leaves the gang with a casualty and Miki with a broken heart.

Another awesome move in this book is a divide between the Elephantmen themselves, enter the Crocs. The Crocodiles are the most inhuman out of all of Mappos experiments due to the crocodiles killer instinct and disregard for other life. Even though they were all made part animal each animal had it’s own temperament and the crocodiles were all hunter without compassion making them the perfect choice for the new sleeper-cell mercenaries to use when they revive the experiments.

In volume 4 of Elephantmen : Questionable Things we are introduced to another side of the Elephantmen. In the previous volumes we see them created and used to crush Europe. Then they are introduced back into society with help from the UN.

We also meet another comic book hottie in LAPDs Lieutenant Blackthorne. She has a history of violence caused by the Elephantmen war and has every reason to hate them in this volume. She is forced to work with them and she doesn’t need to like it one bit. Through Volume 4 we see her begin to change her opinion of them as she gets introduced to another side to the move lovable mutants in the world.

Onto issue #30 the first rated “M” for mature reader comic in the series. Over the last few months I’ve seen a few comics apparently “sold out” just to find them on the shelves for weeks. But from what I gather Elephantmen #30 sold out as quick as Fantastic Four ‘587. I checked a few comic stores and had to resort to eBay to get a copy with one of the best J Scott Campbell covers ever. Off to the local comic book store with a standing order I go.

Issue #30 breaks away from the rest of the story in Questionable Things, after Miki and Hip had a break up from the first issue in the series they now have the whole issue to get back together. There is a little more than the odd nipple shot in this issue.

The collected TPB of Volume four also comes with an amazing cover my one of my new favourite artists Boo Cook which features one of the new crocodile mutants and Blackthorne. This volumes introduction comes from Noel Clarke.

On to a bit of speculation.

There is also a bit of a plot twist with a new character called Panya who is used as a stand in by Sahara when she wants to leave the confines of Horn’s tower. I don’t want to spoil anything but for those who read Mystery City might remember Sahara being shot in the arms of Horn.

I’m starting to think this may have been her stand in Panya instead but I might be jumping the gun on that one. It just goes to show how Richard Starking’s futuristic world has so many possibilities which keep your imagination ticking by in this world of pure awesomeness.

Posted by Adi Mursec on April 6, 2011