I guess I shouldn’t be surprised Ennis, McCrea and Burns screwed up the finish. Ennis has had problems wrapping up arcs before (though he’s also had some awesome wrap-ups). The real surprise should be reserved for how much everyone screws up, each one of them.
Ennis wraps up Mallory’s story, which gets a whole lot less interesting when it becomes all about Butcher. Ennis is trying to turn Butcher into the villain of the series, at least for now; it has the awkward added value of making the reader feel bad for liking Butcher. Readers should have seen through him, even if Hughie didn’t.
McCrea and Burns get progressively worse throughout. The Mallory stuff is almost okay but then there’s a lot of gag shots. They go for humor, the script doesn’t. The ending with Annie’s incompetent though. Awful art.
Ennis should stick to limited series at this point.
CREDITS
Barbary Coast, Conclusion; writer, Garth Ennis; artists, John McCrea and Keith Burns; colorist, Tony AviƱa; letterer, Simon Bowland; editor, Joseph Rybandt; publisher, Dynamite Entertainment.