Oni Press 2013
Written by Charles Soule
Illustrated by Rafael Alburquerque
Coloured by Dan Jackson
So last issue ended with Astra she approached Gomez with an idea of how to help everyone thus revealing her own secret. Ah of course Gomez doesn’t get to Charlotte before she’s in full on panic mode looking for her daughter. Seriously how long did Charlotte think she was going to be able to keep Astra’s abilities a secret anyway? She’s being raised by both humans and aliens and she was conceived and born in space there’s no getting around that about her was normal from the get go.
Astra does a great job distracting the aliens as Gomez makes his way to the Chandelier. Before we can if he’s successful or not it’s time to head back to Earth and see just what is unfolding.
We see what President Blades is up to with the LEOPRD ready to shoot the asteroid out of orbit while the Russians are keeping the Germans occupied. Dr. Portek is given the all clear to fire the weapon only someone else is in control of the LEOPRD and instead of shooting the asteroid it takes out Moscow. Any hopes President Blades has in using the LEOPRD is dashed for a very good reason and we see former President Carroll is finally showing us his true colours.
What happens throughout the remainder of the issue is what Charles does best. He twists everything we’ve learned so far into something we could never have imagined happening. With the constant flux of characters showing us different sides of themselves and revelations that totally blow the readers minds everything and I do mean everything we’ve seen up until this point is almost rendered moot. This is some of the most incredible storytelling i’ve ever had the pleasure to witness.
From one President to another the tides of change happen in inconceivable ways going from the greatest despair to shining rays of hope and vice versa. While in space at the Chandelier the hope of the astronauts changes just as radically. Suddenly we see that what they wanted to do and how they were going to do it come to an explosive point.
This has been some of the most intense and incredible characterization and storytelling to hit stands since comics began and it’s a guaranteed emotional roller coaster ride sure to send you insides spiralling out of control. There are some moments that you never took a moment to consider happening as well, the fate of Astra’s father for instance is revealed here. Plus we have so many more questions that arise from what we see that it’s one of those instances when a week wouldn’t be soon enough for the next issue to hit stands.
This series has been pretty groundbreaking since day one but Charles, never one to rest on what’s he’s doing has flipped the script as it were and now we’ve got to start almost anew and deal with what should be the aftermath of the asteroid hitting the Earth.
What all these characters will do next is anyone’s guess but I do know one thing with Charles willing to fool us all it’s going to be interesting as all hell.
Rafael and Jackson’s work on the interiors are so incredibly in sync with the writing in bringing the aliens to life, demonstrating so much emotion and characterization through each individual we see that it does make for this spellbinding, mesmerizing adventure.