Ryker’s got tech that allows him to stop time. It’s not his tech. It’s property of the U.S. Government. He shouldn’t have it. Truth is: he shouldn’t even know about it. The man responsible for him knowing about it is someone Rkyer wants to talk to. He’s going to do so in Standstill #5. Writer Lee Loughridge begins the second half of his eight-part series with a bit of a nonlinear jump that brings-up all kinds of questions in an issue that’s brought to the page by artist Alex Riegel and inker John Beatty. The story takes an interesting turn as it moves into its second half.

Ryker doesn’t think to approach the guy responsible for his new lifestyle until AFTER he’s already taken revenge on the people who killed his wife. Now that he’s finished with that, he’s issuing a warning to the one guy who might be able to stop him. He does so before heading-off to indulge himself with the ability to stop time wherever he might decide to do so. And there’s little question that it’s not going to end well for him. It’s really only a matter of time before time runs out on the guy...who can stop time.

Loughridge throws a major curve into the narrative with the issues first scene. Makes it kind of a difficult thing to get into. Ultimately, there ends up being the whole matter of exactly how this thing is going to come to an end. There are aspects of the plot that feel very familiar. It's just one guy looking for revenge and he got it. What is he going to do with the tech? It's interesting stuff. And it's God, very compelling drama at the heart of it. At the center of it all. It continues to feel very well constructed as it moves into its second half.

Riegel and Beatty carry the drama off pretty well. The overall design of the series continues to be very appealing. The big two page spreads our carried into a similarly-designed wraparound cover. the wide screen format works really well with the dramatic momentum of the series to make for a really appealing visual package. The artwork might not feel quite as tight as it did in the first few issues of the series, but it still continues to have quite an impact with throughout.

Things go in a lot of different directions moving forward. That's kind of fun to see exactly how the equation is going to balance out at the end. It's pretty clear that Loughridge and company have a very definite rhythm to the story and a very definite design on exactly how it's going to end. But even knowing as much as the reader does at the end of this issue regarding the ultimate resolution of everything, it's still feels really compelling and really interesting. It's such a clever mutation of ideas that have been around before that. It should be really fun to see everything come to a close in these next three issues.

Grade: B+