Standstill #4 Review

 

Writer & Colorist: Lee Loughridge

Artists: Andrew Robinson & Alex Riegel

Designer & Letterer: Rob Tweedie

Cover Artists: Andrew Robinson & Alex Riegel

Publisher: Image Comics

Price: $4.99

Release Date: November 20, 2024

 

Colin's wife Lara left him. His friend Kate is helping him build a time machine in his garage. Colin Shaw may be more Angus MacGyver than Dr Emmett Brown, but someone stole his Standstill device, and he wants to get it back. Can Colin catch the thief before he kills again? Let’s hop on our skateboards, hitch a ride on Standstill #4, and find out!

 

Story

Lara claimed Colin was obsessive. Kate calls him a narcissist. But while Lara leaves their small town for the big city, Kate stands by him even after losing her job. Sneaking into work and stealing chemicals from a government project could get her arrested. But they've been friends since their university days when they bonded over a mutual interest in time travel. If someone stole the device they worked on, she wants to help Colin catch the thief.

 

But in Lee Loughridge's story, it's not as simple as that. Once they build the device, Colin must wear it. To be specific, Colin must integrate it into his body. Due to their plan's secret, experimental, and illegal nature, that's not something they can do under sterile conditions in a hospital surgical suite. Colin needs to go full Deer Hunter in Standstill #4. Their garage-built device may not work. As she admitted, this is like transforming an Atari into a teleportation machine. Still, the operation is a game of Russian Roulette, and Kate must squeeze the trigger.

 

Ryker Ruel has been on a rampage. His travels have taken him across the globe. Now, he's in New York and has another target in his sights. He hates pretense and attacks people who profit from the misery of others. Perhaps some of the people and corporations he has hurt didn't deserve it. Some of his actions may be more about shaming than anything else. His Robin Hood exploits may hurt the people he wants to help. But Ryker has a plan, and as in Pakistan and the Murder City Devils' bar, he intends to kill.

 

Standstill #4 is a race against time. If Colin survives the implantation, and he can get the device to work the way he wants, perhaps he can track Ryker and prevent him from killing again. Colin only knows he must try because all of this is his fault.

 

Art

Andrew Robinson portrays Colin Shaw as a low-key surfer reclining in his chair and addressing his professor. His fellow students dot the first few rows of the lecture hall while a man in a suit observes from farther back. Afterward, as Colin and Kate traverse a portico, the businessman with a silver-tinged goatee hands them his card. Traveling Back To The Future, we will see him in General White's office in Standstill #1.

 

Despite working for Francis Goldsmith for years and receiving a hefty severance check, Colin parks his Volkswagon hatchback in his driveway. He sets up two folding tables and works with hand tools, a laptop, and test tubes to create another time travel device. Unlike Ryker's suave assurance, Colin's fears are evident, as are Kate's, as she rests her hand on some schematics. Still, at least Kate has her Porsche. Alex Riegel takes over the penciling chores halfway through Standstill #4. Reigel maintains Robinson's across-the-pages layout style, but his panels are less cinematic and more personal. Riegel's art taps into the whimsical nature of this time-travel story while making Colin even more expressive.

 

Lee Loughridge paints a Cal Tech lecture hall in browns, grays, tans, and beige. Once they step outside, the greenery of Pasadena surrounds Colin and Kate. As they work late into the night in Colin’s purple garage, fluorescent lights transform Kate’s Cal Tech Rugby sweatshirt from turquoise to Granny Smith Green. Loughridge overlays a circular mesh to simulate the overhead glare. A hypodermic needle glows yellow like a magic wand, while orange and yellow surround white as Kate pulls the trigger on a jet injector.  

 

Rob Tweedie dishes out uppercase black letters in white dialogue balloons and colored narrative boxes. The letters grow bold for intonation, swell for raised voices, and rarely shrink. White block letters stand still as location markers while yellow laughter spills across the empty seats of an auditorium. Pink letters trail behind an Aston Martin racing toward an American flag on the George Washington Bridge, while orange letters accentuate the stopping power of Kate’s Porche. Thanks to Image Comics for providing a copy for review.   

 

Final Thoughts

Ryker Ruel is hurting. To assuage his pain, he targets the people responsible. Standstill #4 reveals Ryker’s link to Colin and Kate and why he became a rebel with a cause. The only question is: Can the two Cal Tech alums stop him before Ryker, their former employer, or the government come after them?

 

Rating 9.4/10

 

For another cover see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

 

To refresh your memory of earlier events, see my review of Standstill #1 and Standstill #2.