Terry Moore's Echo Vol. 5: Black Hole

Echo #5

by Terry Moore

Collects issues 21-25 of ECHO! In order to stop the deadly Phi Collider from activating, Julie and Ivy must first find the rest of the alloy that empowers Julie. Unfortunately, that alloy is possessed by Cain, a psychotic killer who has a plan of his own. Black Hole collects issues #21-25 of Terry Moore's award-winning series.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction, Fantasy, Comic Book

105 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 10, 2010

About the author

Following the examples of independent comic creators such as Dave Sim and Jeff Smith, he decided to publish Strangers in Paradise himself through his own Houston-based "Abstract Studios" imprint, and has frequently mentioned a desire to do a syndicated cartoon strip in the authors notes at the back of the Strangers in Paradise collection books. He has also mentioned his greatest career influence is Peanuts' Charles Schulz.[1] Some of Moore's strip work can additionally be found in his Paradise, Too! publications.

His work has won him recognition in the comics industry, including receiving the Eisner Award for Best Serialized Story in 1996 for Strangers in Paradise #1-8, which was collected in the trade paperback "I Dream of You".

It was announced on June 15th, 2007 that Moore would be taking over for Sean McKeever as writer of Marvel Comics's Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane series starting with a new issue #1. On July 27th, Marvel announced that Moore would also take over for Joss Whedon as writer of Marvel's Runaways.[2]

On November 19th, 2007 Terry Moore announced in his blog that his new self-published series would be named Echo and its first issue would appear on March 5th, 2008.[3]

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume felt like an improvement from the last, and I'm still enjoying the story and characters. There's not really much to say about this that hasn't already been said. The plot is entertaining, the characters are (for the most part) multidimensional, and the art is beautiful.

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

As the story builds to its conclusion next volume, it's time to cull the herd.

Despite the body count, the overall story tone stays light and fun as the main characters are just so darn charming and their banter is so playful.


FOR REFERENCE:

Contains material originally published in single magazine form as Echo #21-25.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terry Moore misses no opportunity to ratchet up the suspense and mystery in this volume, even when he's already done quite a bit of heavy lifting in terms of question-answering in the fourth volume. Thing start to get pretty weird in this one, with the Phi suit starting to cause unusual side-effects in Julie and Ivy. Moore has a knack for revealing new details and twists at a pace that keeps you guessing and invested, while never dropping the characters he's spent 4 volumes bringing to life. I've talked a lot about this in reviews of previous volumes, but suffice it to say this series never lets up or slows down. It's just a suspenseful, character-driven sci-fi story that I really don't want to end.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

After a volume of wheel spinning, "Black Hole" suddenly goes into overdrive, fulfilling many of this promises of this book and resolving many of its conflicts. Is it too quick? Perhaps. But it's intriguing to see where this book is going now that we're heading so rapidly toward the finish line.

[John Elbe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of our characters grow closer, while others just grow? Sci-fi wackiness balanced with Terry Moore building these characters throughout so that we are invested in seeing it through to the end. Of course it's not looking like everyone is going to get there if Ivy has anything g to say about it. Damn.

[Arminzerella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hong almost succeeds in getting the alloy off of Julie, injuring Ivy in the process. When Julie/Annie attempts to heal Ivy, the alloy somehow reverses her aging process – now she's regressing both physically and mentally (with no signs of stopping). The alloy is starting to change Julie as well – she's becoming physically stronger and larger. It's also pissing her off. She doesn't really want to be a hero, she just wants her “normal” life back. Julie and Ivy finally meet up with Dillon and together they set off in pursuit of “Cain,” the crazy man who also has some of the alloy. Cain has taken another one of the Phi scientists hostage (Vijay) and is using him as sacrifice/bait to lure Julie to his mountaintop. Their “showdown” is kind of anticlimactic, though. Cain has already immolated himself when they arrive, and the remaining alloy jumps to Julie. Ivy puts Cain out of his misery with a well-placed bullet. On to the collider?

There's some amusing banter between Julie and Ivy, as Julie begins to assert herself. Terry Moore puts them in some uncomfortable situations, too, adding a bit of comic relief to take the edge off of the suspense. It's a nice touch. Really enjoying this.

[Dev · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Still kind of confused as to what exactly was [is?] going on with Cain, but with only one volume left I'm guessing that he was just an old drunk dude because it doesn't seem like there's enough time to do more with that and also play out the whole collider plot. Also I might be reading too much into this but between the 'secret box' that Julie had in her closet that made her husband think she was a 'pervert' and the scene with her and Ivy cuddling while they were sleeping I am like [big eyes emoji] Julie/Ivy endgame? Maybe? Please? I guess I'll just have to read the last volume to find out lol

[Darinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Government conspiracies. Black holes. Fun sci-fi stuff. This volume contains issues 21-25.

[Bookworm Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love!

[Fran · Rating 4 out of 5]

The very last panel of the very last page of this volume gave me a good chuckle.

Thankfully, Hong the implausible is dealt with quickly and that plot point is moved away from swiftly. The volume then delivers an unexpected, but very good, comic double act in Julie and Ivy as they both grow in opposite directions. I don't quite know why the alloy is having this effect on Ivy, and I feel like perhaps we won't ever really get an explanation and it's just Plot. But it's entertaining, so I'll let it slide. The thing with Julie and insects/animals in interesting. I wonder if that's coming from her natural love of animals and being amplified by the alloy. Hope there's something more about this before the end.

It's nice that this volume ties up the Cain story line before we move into the final act. Looking forward to seeing how this all finishes.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never would have thought Terry Moore would go from Strangers in Paradise (while very good for most its run did drag a lot in its middle) to Echo arguably the best science fiction comic published today. Yes it take place today, and the science is not perfect. But we get super colliders, government conspiracies, newly discovered unstable elements, the power to make black holes, and the likely end of the world. During all of this Moore keeps the central characters of Julies, Dillon, Ivy and Annie (yes I know she's dead) interesting and/or compelling.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love our characters (the ones that remain at least) - unpredictable, continuing to evolve with their circumstances, and give me something really interesting to think about (how would I react in these circumstances?).

Moore has a talent for not putting everything into words - sometimes people do things without thinking, sometimes things happen that no one has to narrate. There's still plenty of text, but I appreciate Moore's balance and restraint.

Mysteries keep compounding. And the metaphysics are embiggening. Hard to gauge what is science and what is...other. Fun though, very much fun.

[Penny Ramirez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thrilled to find Terry Moore's booth at C2E2 last weekend - and very sad to hear that #5 is the next-to-last book. Tried to wait, tried to savor it, but ripped through it in two sittings. Interesting developments - Julie has discovered new powers, Ivy seems to be getting younger, Annie has made another appearance, more people are dying - and at the rate Moore's going, this is going to end with the whole world blowing up. Sigh. Satisfying, but I really wish the series would have contained a few more books!

[Zedsdead · Rating 5 out of 5]

While escaping from Liu, Ivy learns how to make a key that will release Julie from the Beta suit. When Julie heals Ivy's stab wound, they start to change: Julie gets larger--maybe seven feet tall by book's end--and Ivy gets younger and younger until she looks pre-adolescent. Cain kidnaps Vijay and forces a final confrontation on top of a mountain. Old Testament showdown.

I fear I'm repeating myself, raving about volume after volume of this title. So I'll just say it's still great. Lots of wonderful little human moments amidst the drama and action.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of the fact you have to have side-effects. Nothing is perfect, and especially when you play with Science and God, you end up with Reactions. This one is all about reactions. Childhood and love and survival are all ramping up, testing us on what is important and what isn't and what defines something. Skin? Time?



I literally can not wait (except for having to) for the conclusion in two weeks.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still enjoying this series, and looking forward to reading Book 6 (the final book?). I've bought it and am saving it for a time when I can sit down and read the whole thing at once. Great characters and an action packed story. Also some nice touches of humour in this one, despite the constant peril the characters seem to be in.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second to last trade for this series, and things are finally coming to a bit of an endgame, albeit much faster than anticipated. Still loving this series, but I'm very interested in figuring out exactly where this will end up more than anything else at this point.

[Tammy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disappointed that I have to wait for the next installment. This story is getting too good.

[Susan]

latest re-rad 3/10/2012 - 3/18/2012

collects #21-25

[Ryan McArthur · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good! Strong characters, a number of storylines (but not too many!) and past events hinted at to give depth to the story.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still enjoying the story but I'm starting to get worried about what's going to happen with Annie/Julie. I'm also wondering how the whole aging thing is going to get resolved for Ivy.

[Laurianne Uy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The interactions are really quite fun!

[Jdetrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still awesome.

[Artemisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is disturbing in its real possibility.

[Bookworm Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love!

[Bookworm Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this smart, funny, comic series

[Bookworm Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love terry moore

[47Time · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dillon leaves Annie's notes with his father. HeNRI is burying the Phi project and reassigning the people working on it. Julie and Ivy were captured by Hong, but the alloy works again in their favor, this time with Annie controling Julie's actions and, it turns out her and Ivy's physical appearance too. He has already given some of the alloy to Chinese scientists who will likely build the collider too, which adds pressure on HeNRI. Vijay, one of the assisstents in the Phi project, is the goal now, but he is kidnapped by Cain. Dillon, Ivy and Julie follow him up a mountain, giving the alloy a chance to display another ability.