For this prompt, I am working with the multi-panel sequence on page 119. The panel is essentially the “final battle” between Rex and Mambo, the lead gangster, beginning with some expository dialogue and ending with Mambo’s death.
The first thing I noticed about this sequence, in regards to McCloud’s Understanding Comics was the explicit use of the action-to-action sequence in between the 5th and final frames. We don’t actually see Mambo’s head exploding, but we know that it actually happened judging from the massive amount of guts pouring out from where his head used to be. I also noticed the very cartoon-y, non detailed blood spatter erupting from his head. It looks akin to a fountain, or those pop guns that are sold during New Years and the 4th of July, which fire out the strands of ribbon and confetti. It’s quite ambiguous, and strikes me as very unusual. It seems to express an idea of joy and celebration from the death of Mambo, who, despite the multiple “bad guys” represented in the story (and even then, the line between who is truly “good” and who is truly “bad” is incredibly blurred) is the one singularly faceted antagonistic element throughout the comic.
Another element to take note of is the existence of the eye, which remains entirely intact throughout the entirety of the story, despite it being dislodged from its original orifice twice throughout the comic. The eye is the element that gave Mambo worth: His ability of mutual perception between Rex and himself, and of course, the laser beam that it omits, prove to be powerful weapons in Mambo’s hands, or I suppose I should say, head (wink, wink, nudge, nudge.) The eye represents Mambo’s envious attempts to be something larger than he is, by taking a part of Rex, it almost appears as if he is trying to be somebody more powerful than he actually is. This same theme is also mentioned the dialogue previous to the incident, where Mambo rants about how lucky Tango was, and expresses a definite theme of jealousy, and ultimate desire of power. The one piece of his head that remains, the eye of Rex, is not truly a part of Mambo, which sends a message that although he strove for superiority and dominance, in the end, he truly is a pathetic, insignificant stain on the walls for the janitor to clean up.
Overall, the scene was very direct, with little room for interpretation, but even those minor details give a glancing outlook on Mambo’s existence that before, wasn’t covered much throughout the comic.
For questions, one thing that I can’t figure out in this scene is that in the scene where Mambo’s head is exploded, the Rex clone’s head is dismembered from his body, and is positioned in the image to almost appear as if the Rex clone’s head was originally a part of Mambo’s body. I have developed a number of theories as to the author’s purpose for this, but cannot construct anything strong enough to use it as an interpretation with confidence.
So, why in the final scene, is Mambo’s body, and the Rex clone’s head, the only remaining parts of their respective bodies left after the struggle? What is the external message of the author by creating this scene as such?
(552 words)
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