The Scumbag #9 // Review
Ernie Ray Clementine has beamed himself directly into the psyche of the earth. How bad can it be? Well...he IS the title character of The Scumbag #9. So it’s not exactly a GREAT situation as writer Rick Remender continues the saga of a mixed-up reprobate who may be humanity’s only hope. Artist Jonathan Wayshak delivers some beautifully disgusting visuals to a world that is lost in the eternal Id of a man who never really managed to make much out of himself even when given the best possible opportunity to do so. Colorist Moreno Dinisio lends depth and atmosphere to one of the more visually exciting issues of the series thus far.
Ernie’s on the moon. (It’s a long story.) And his essence has just been beamed straight into the psyches of everyone on the planet. There’s only a little bit of time to possibly halt total disaster in a planet full of scumbags, but Ernie can think of no better paradise than a world filled with people who think like him, so he runs away into a time warp. If he’s going to save the world for HIMSELF, he’s going to have to go back to where it all began and bring together a band of people just as bad as he is.
Ernie Ray would be a problematic character for ANY writer. He’s reluctant to evolve past the most basic desires. In the recent past, Remender has done a pretty good job of getting Ernie to grow. Someone who is as dead-set against change as Ernie Ray is going to resist it, though...and bringing Ernie Ray back to his favorite bar in kid form? THAT’S...well, it would be tedious if it wasn’t charming. (Ernie goes a long distance on charm alone. Remender understands this.) It’s not terribly interesting beyond the surface-level charm of Ernie Ray, though.
Wayshak is given some really, really absurd things to draw this issue. He rises to the occasion with some gorgeously disgusting panoramic shots. The two-page spread of Times Square filled with reprobates would make a good poster. As would the two-page spread of the assembled reprobates at the end of the issue. There’s a bracing kinetic quality to the action that flows around the page in action as well. There’s a gorgeous shot of Ernie falling through time and gradually becoming younger, showing Wayshak’s ability to render subtle differences in detail. It’s too bad he’s not given more subtlety to bring to the page in an issue like this.
For all its lack of depth in the way of the main character, the ninth issue in the series actually has quite a sweeping feeling of adventure from the moon to the earth and all over time. It’s pretty impressive stuff if you don’t think about it too much. That being said, it’s not like there’s a whole lot that could be pounded into Ernie that would make the series feel dynamic in any meaningful way. Ernie’s had his time to develop. With any luck, Remender and company will coax him into a more intriguing direction in future issues.
