Concrete Volume 7: The Human Dilemma (Concrete (Graphic Novels))
Chadwick has frequently used his superhero character Concrete, a contemplative soul transplanted into a rocklike body, to comment on social issues. Here an idealistic CEO hires Concrete, whose transformation has gained him minor-celebrity status, to publicize a controversial population-control program designed to make childlessness chic by paying young couples who agree to sterilization. It's less ponderous than it sounds. Concrete's charge to publicize the project on talk shows provides a natural pretext for discussing the issue and allowing both sides their say, and there's wry irony in a spokesperson for sterilization who lacks genitalia. The most compelling sequences, however, take place on the edges of the main story line. Concrete's relationship with Maureen Vonnegut, the biologist assigned by the government to study him, takes an unexpected but long-developing turn, and his assistant Larry Munro pays the price for neglecting population-control measures. As always, Chadwick's artwork is as enticing as the script. His delicate yet assured line is sensuous or bold as needed, and his compositions are consistently interesting yet always advance the story.Gordon FlaggCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved