Copperhead, issue 13, proves the point; once you have one mystery solved several others are revealed. Since issue 10 of Copperhead the Mayor has been mysteriously murdered, which has launched an investigation by Sheriff Clara Bronson. While on this investigation she has had to deal with some unforeseeable obstacles including her deputy, Boo, becoming the new Mayor. His intent, along with Mr. Hickory, is to control the investigation for their own purpose. While Clara is dealing with the internal politics that are occurring she discovers that the old Mayor (the dead one) was having an affair with a prostitute, discovering a motive for the killing but not a suspect.
The Good:
The comic begins to reveal the true relationships between Boo and Hickory. Boo was placed into the Mayor’s role as a means to control Clara and her investigation. Hickory wants Clara to handle the investigation as an assassination rather than a case where the Mayor was killed for sleeping around. This is done out of self interest as Hickory understands that if word got out that the Mayor was killed for having an affair it would damage Copperhead’s reputation as a town. This damage would halt Hickory’s plan to increase his business in Copperhead. Despite Boo’s control over Clara, she has continued to investigate and discovered that the old Mayor was sleeping around, the motive for him being murdered, and is attempting to find the person who murdered him. This reveals that Clara cares about getting justice as she is going against the administration that she is employed by. By revealing both Hickory and Clara’s reasons for their actions this sets up an interesting dynamic in the comic. Both Hickory and Clara want to bring benefit to Copperhead, for Hickory he is attempting to save the integrity while Clara is establishing justice for the community. In many ways they are both right, as the scandal of the Mayor’s infidelities does not help the town and neither does the lack of justice for his murder. This is a stalemate as there is no good choice on how to properly address this situation.
The Bad:
In issue 12 we saw Clara quit being a sheriff. Yet in this issue we see her acting and doing the job of the sheriff while she is continuing to investigate the Mayor’s murder. The comic does not make it clear that Clara was acting metaphorically when she quit rather than actually quitting. This is extremely confusing and appears sloppy. When the issue does explain that it was metaphoric, in the middle of the issue, it seems as if it was an after thought rather than worked into the story.
The Verdict:
Undeniably, Copperhead, issue 13, just became a more interesting story as we are seeing where different groups lie in their reasoning. Boo was granted the Mayor’s position to act in Hickory’s best interest, mainly for his business. Yet, despite being self-interested he does bring out the point of saving the integrity and reputation of Copperhead, as the Mayor’s infidelities’ do not help Copperhead in any way. Clara on the other hand does not care how the Mayor’s infidelities look, as she wants justice for what has occurred in her town while she is sheriff there. Thus we see two people have two different opinions on what is best for a town that they are a part of. Both of their opinions have resulted in a stalemate, as they would provide good and bad to Copperhead. This is an extremely thought provoking issue as it explores what the best course of action is for Copperhead.
You can pick up a copy of Copperhead here.
