Publisher: Image Comics
Writer: Richard Starkings
Artists: Axel Medellin
Colourist: Axel Medellin
Release Date: OUT NOW!
Price: $3.99

Continuing the “All Coming Evil” story line, Elephantmen #66 begins as Elephantmen zebra Trench, hippo Hip Flask, Granger the giraffe and human Farrell are running from Promethean’s Hyena-based Dog Soldiers. They’re rescued by human cab driver Miki, Hip’s love interest.

Elephantmen likes its psychological underpinnings, and Elephantmen #66 explores the “war is hell” trope, although in a shallower manner than previously. Promethean and MAPPO, the organization that created the anthropomorphic heroes, are having a bit of a falling out and Hip and his pals are caught in the middle. “No one wins in a war,” says Trench.

He should know, he’s done it before. There’s a flashback explaining how during the MAPPO-U.N. war Trench spared future genocidal maniac Agathe. “Had I known that the name Agathe would become synonymous with the death of thousands of Elephantmen, I wonder if I’d have killed her right there and then.” But war changes an Elephantman, and Trench was tired of killing children.

Medellin’s art is still among the best work being produced today, and, for me, earns the cover price.

For the most part Elephantmen #66 is a turn of the screw, advancing the tale a bit. But it’s the psychology behind the crisis that makes the storyline interesting, and here it’s a little thin. I hope future issues will explore this psychology more deeply.

Reviewer: Joe Lovece
Reviews Editor: Steve Hooker