Giving Up by Giving In: Still Reviewing CASANOVA: ACEDIA

I continue to write about Matt Fraction and Fábio Moon's CASANOVA: ACEDIA for Comics Bulletin.

It's short, so I'll just put the whole thing up here:

CASANOVA IV: ACEDIA #7 (Image Comics)

(W) Matt Fraction, (A/C) Fábio Moon

(Editor’s Note: The writer of this review wanted to give this “all the stars”, but our scale only goes up to 5)

It’s sometimes best to assume that you don’t know that you know what you don’t know that you know and then grab the bottle and head for the ocean. But sometimes when you do know that you didn’t know that you knew it already, it makes for shaky times and strange bedfellows.

Here’s what I know I don’t know about Casanova: Acedia #7:

1. What the fuck is going on.
2. Why that is spectacular.
3. When I can get more.

Here’s what I know I do know about Casanova: Acedia #7:

1. Everything is going on.
2. It is fucking spectacular.
3. I need more.

Given all this, it’s hard to even put the rubber to the road or light the head of the man screaming across the highway. Fraction and Moon just keep adding to a story that is fundamentally being told through subtraction, while maintaining a recursive narrative that keeps unfolding along a linear plane.

“How can the goddamn sunrise be different?” It can’t be if you remain the same person.

Strange forces continue to undermine and explode. Certain truths become that much more evident. Puzzle pieces once thought lost are now layered between slices of bread to make the most delicious sandwich you’ve ever eaten. I’m not even quoting Bowie anymore.

This thing has legs and the rest of us are running to catch up.

Because it’s about character — not just who but how.

Is there a fundamental self no matter who you think you are? Is there a “you” behind every mask you’ve put on (or has been put on by everyone else)? What makes a hero besides other people saying you’re one? Who gets to define the moral system? What’s up, chicken butt? We’ve got fundamental questions on the plate next to that pickle. Which one are you gunna eat first?

Don’t think too hard about this. You don’t have time. The next course is being served.

If you’re not reading Casanova: Acedia then don’t start without going back to the very start and then move forward in the circular motion that this sort of story demands. Trust that Fraction and Moon understand what they are doing and have your best interest at heart. Or not. I don’t know what you know, but I sure as hell know I love Casanova: Acedia #7 and everything is going on and it’s spectacular and I want more.