Fenton and Geller have been fired. It’s not an easy thing to take. They’re pretty much...totally defined by their work. (Okay, maybe not, but they DO have work to do and it isn’t going to help that they no longer have a job that’s going allow them to do the work.) Fenton and Geller are going to have to work like hell to get into the hell of the work that they need to do in Rifters #4. After three issues of being tolerably bad, writers  Joe Trohman and Brian Posehn manage a genuinely enjoyable issue with artist Chris Johnson and colorist Mark Englert. 

Fenton and Gellar know the office well enough to be able to work their way into holding are for tech. All th ey have to do is trick the guy at the front desk and they’ll be able to launch themselves back in time to confront the killer that they’ve been trailing. The killer in question is going to be kind of a challenge. The fact that they happen to track him down in a major population center like San Francisco in 1969 is going to complicate matters, but they’re trained professionals. Granted: they ARE trained unemployed professionals, but they still have a job to do. 

Trohman and Posehn’s work in previous issues had always felt more than a little lopsided. They always seem to be trying too hard with the dialogue, which just felt awkward and uncomfortable. Their attemts at humor didn't necessarily fit into the format of the stories they were telling. With the fourth issue, the strained attempts at humor fade into the background as the narrative starts to focus on some, serious issues. That serious edge to some of the humor really sharpens the focus of a series that begins to live up to some of its potential with the fourth issue.

Johnson and Englert don't have to do a whole lot in order to present the action. All they have to do is capably present some very cool looking stuff. There isn't as much to be dealt with in so far as costuming and things of that nature. And this allows them to throw a lot of interesting little details in around the edges of everything. and, of course, a lot of really cool work went into designing the killer. And the killer looks really really cool. Which actually becomes a bit of its own humor that is actually genuinely funny.

Honestly, they could have punched up the comedy of the conflict between the heroes and the villain at issues’ end. When Fenton nd Geller finally catch-up with the killer, he just looks SO cool and slick with sort of a dark ninja style that they’re both really impressed with. Had they just been way too in awe of his style to act effectively, it might have been a bit more interesting. Though there IS kind of an emotional moment at one point, the battle between Fenton, Geller an the villain stands as one of the best moments in the series so far.

Grade: B