After a third issue stuffed with exposition and plot, the pressure was on writer-artist Jamie McKelvie to satisfactorily wrap up the myriad threads in his first solo mini (though in calling it that, let us not forget Matt Wilson’s invaluable contribution of his colours.) It would’ve been a difficult task even for a more experienced writer to bring everything to a believable conclusion, so it’s pleasing to see the promise of the early issues realised as McKelvie does indeed manage to pull it off.

Since it’s a comic, you can be forgiven for expecting the last issue to contain a big fight scene - and, since it’s a comic, it dutifully does, allowing McKelvie to silence forever any critics still claiming his work lacks dynamism. When one of Morgana’s goons finds themself on the receiving end of some old-fashioned guitar-smashing action, you can really feel it. Astrid manages to prevent the fight from going too far, and dispatches the battling factions, before reconciling with Dave and returning to a normal life - more or less. She’s now got access to her Fae powers, which includes a rather trandy-looking set of magical wings.

In the opening pages, it became clear to me that I’d actually been judging Suburban Glamour on slightly incorrect terms. Rather than looking for the origins of a mystical, Buffyesque super-heroine, I should’ve seen it as the modern fairytale that, with this issue, it plainly becomes - a magical coming-of-age. In meeting her “real” family, Astrid quickly realises that the grass isn’t actually greener on the other side of the fence, and accepts her small-town lifestyle for what it is as Suburban Glamour’s promised allegory makes a full return.

Certain threads of the plot do feel a little truncated - the Fae disappear as quickly as they appeared, putting up little fight when Astrid gets angry at them, though the intention to follow up those characters in future Suburban Glamour tales is clear. Instead, Astrid’s character arc is the focus of the first mini, and the seeds of any ongoing plot-arcs are only being sown in this issue. SG #4 completes a miniseries in the best way possible - wrapping up one story while preparing for the next.

And, until the next story arrives, remember that you can amuse yourself with the Suburban Glamour Soundtrack, made up of bands mentioned in or which inspired the title. Almost entirely guaranteed to get you down with the kids. Almost.

Tags: Jamie McKelvie, Suburban Glamour
Publisher: Image