And so it ends in failure. Most of this issue is just typical fighting and posturing as things come to an explosive conclusion for "Coda War One." Zealot is rescued and if you ever wanted to see her make out with Ladytron, you get your wish. Jack Marlowe interferes in his almost-subtle way by, first, eliminating the Coda's reenforcements and then by teleporting the entire group off of the Coda compound, which Dolby and FBI Agent Chandler blow up. It's all pretty standard stuff, which leaves us with the final page where Marlowe and Wax talk:Marlowe: I'M LEARNING TO ENJOY THE QUIET MOMENTS.
Wax: AND HERE I THOUGHT YOU ALREADY KNEW EVERYTHING...
Marlowe: MY ACTIONS TO AID GRIFTER ARE NOT YOUR CONCERN. NEEDLESS TO SAY, ACTIONS WERE TAKEN. / I CAN ONLY ASSUME THIS NONSENSE CAN NOW BE PUT BEHIND US ONCE AND FOR ALL.
Wax: A LOT OF PEOPLE LIVE FOR THAT NONSENSE. IT'LL BE TOUGH TO CONVINCE THEM OTHERWISE. / I DON'T KNOW. I SUPPOSE IT ALL SEEMS... A BIT ANTICLIMACTIC IN THE END.
Marlowe: ON THE CONTRARY, AGENT WAX. / WE LIVE IN A WORLD WERE NEW IDEAS... NEW APPROACHES... ARE REGARDED WITH SUSPICION AND EVEN DERISION... / ...AND YET, EVERY DAY IS CLIMACTIC. WITH EACH NEW DAY, THERE IS BORN NEW HOPE. / AND I'M COUNTING ON THAT HOPE. NOW THAT GRIFTER HAS HOPEFULLY MADE HIS PEACE WITH THE PAST, WE CAN ALL MORE FORWARD... TO THE FUTURE. / EVERY NEW ACCOMPLISHMENT ULTIMATELY BECOMES PROLOGUE TO THE NEXT. I'M FEELING MORE OPTIMISTIC THAN I EVER HAVE. NOT ONLY OVER WHAT WE'VE DONE... BUT WE'VE YET TO DO. / IN FACT, THIS IS ONLY THE BEGINNING.
It's pretty obvious what Casey is really saying here, isn't it? Here is the commentary that I spoke of last time with Casey saying things we don't really expect. The book ends before its time and we'd expect anger, fury, ranting... but Casey gives us genre exercises and hints that he's not done yet. Was he already working on The Intimates? Jack Marlowe shows up in that book, too--so does Desmond from Mr. Majestic. "The children are our future" after all. Of course, that book ultimately failed, too. And Joe Casey hasn't been back to the Wildstorm universe since then.
Here, Casey also provides justification for this Coda storyline: Cole Cash couldn't move on, not really, until Zealot was dealt with. And it was also Casey's last attempt to appease the old fans of the book, the typical superhero fans... "Coda War One" was him throwing a bone to the '90s crowd. It's lots of mindless violence involving scantily clad babes... is there anything more '90s? But, he ends it with an explosion and a deus ex machina in the form of Marlowe.
I'm left wondering where this book would have went after this. I can't help but notice the repetition of Marlowe's optimism for the future from the end of issue twelve, too. Each year of the book ends with hope for the future, emphasis on the future, always looking forward after the previous year was spent looking back. What a shame that the future never arrived for this book after 55 issues... A damn shame.
