Image Comics
Written by Brian Buccellato
Illustrated by Toni Infante
We open with Vanessa and Tilly meeting her father as they’ve snuck away from David for this meeting and express their desire to leave where they’ve found themselves. Could this be where Travis comes from and how he found himself lost and adrift or is that the beginning of something else that will also cause his world to crash down around him? We know that David fathered a lot of children and that the cult he leads has a more sinister origin but how does this all really tie into the story? It’s these questions that keep us coming back to find out.
Mel and Travis have moved in together and while she’s peripherally aware of what’s happening in his life and has been helping him as best she can you alse feel the tension between straining their relationship. Have to give props here because seeing Mel in the grocery store with it’s attention to detail is fantastic to see. I love this kind of artwork that they took the care and attention to her surroundings it just helps paint a more complete picture and sometimes we lose that in comics so seeing it here is fantastic.
When Travis can’t get out of the court mandated counseling we meet a new character there and we see him and kind of learn the root of his anger issues. Now the introduction of Jenny at the group is something suspicious and you can’t put your finger on it, is she trying to seduce him or is she spying on him it’s totally unclear and that kind of ambiguity about her is nice because again it’s another reason to keep reading this so we can find out.
I like the characterization here I mean Travis really is trying extremely hard to be a good man and he loves Mel and he’s genuinely trying but in this case he just can’t fight his nature. He’s already seen way too much in the last two issues but his anger and his I want to say true nature keeps bubbling to the surface and we see that here as well. Once again in an attempt to be the good guy his nature gets the better of him and he ends up in the back of a squad car.
Oh we do get to see Travis’ group counselor as he communes with the Dark One keeping this whole supernatural, evil, deal with the actual devil stuff moving forward without revealing anything really. Again it’s this kind of writing that entices you as a reader because the more you see the more you want to know and it’s not forthcoming so you have to come back and see exactly what’s happening though we do have clues if you are paying attention.
So with the big somewhat twist reveal ending it looks like things are going to be moving forward at a faster pace now. Pieces of the puzzle are coming together and it looks like whether he likes it or not Travis’ role in the upcoming events put him squarely in the middle of it all.
With this really unique style of interior artwork that manages to also be expressive and ambiguous we are immersed in this story so completely. I mean I really digging the work here and there are times like on page twenty that you see things in a kind of hazy detail that leaves no room for doubt about what’s going on and doing so just that dramatically that you feel the intention of the story full force.
This really is a different kind of story that is both easy and hard to figure out so that we’re drawn into it and it leaves a powerful impression.