Oni Press 2013
Written by Charles Soule
Illustrated by Alberto JImenez Alburquerque
Coloured by Dan Jackson
Lettered by Crank!
The crew of the Clarke came up with a plan to get baby Astra back from the Builders: offering to fix a design flaw in the Chandelier in exchange for Astra. However, Charlotte--perhaps out of impatience--takes off in the Bowman to confront the Builders herself. On Earth, Michter was surprised to learn that Carroll told his “Carroll Core” that the asteroid has destroyed most of the planet. Meanwhile Blades met with the rest of his cabinet about Major Drumm’s proclamation that only 666 humans would survive the end of the world--and about the fact that Blades would be the decider.
I’m not sure how it happens but with every issue I read of this I just get more and more impressed. I mean we’ve seen some absolutely incredible things, some shockingly underhandedness and some that well questionable at best and yet Charles still manages to bring something new to the table in his storytelling. The characterization here is stunning in it’s scope of how much human nature we see.
Blades needs to take some time away to think about this massive decision he’s been tasked with. In order to do that he needs to appoint an acting President and the Vice President, poor guy, isn’t a choice. I find it funny that Presidents choose a running mate that they think will either get them votes or make them look good but have no confidence in. If only the American people were privy to that we could have avoided electing a couple. Still I love what we see from Blades this issue plus the fact that he can shock his wife with what he’s talking about is all the better. A measure of man isn’t the obstacles placed before him it’s how he’s seen handling them.
Charlotte’s attempts to get Astra back showcase a mother’s love. I’m not sure any of us were truly prepared for this encounter however. To say that there were more than one moment that totally took me by surprise and shocked me would be an understatement. Also that we’ve no real clue what’s she truly planning or what’s running through her mind and we didn’t see the rest of the Clarke crew made it more ambiguous.
Ah Major Drumm, Can you hear me Major Drumm, the jury is still out on him but something’s off. He’s either too much a builder and lost too much humanity at some point or he’s just crazy. Either way what he’s doing is interesting and maddening to try and comprehend.
What Alberto continues to do with the interiors is simply fantastic. I love how he makes the pages and panels flow to help tell the story. His use of backgrounds are great and it’s nice to see he isn’t afraid of giving us a fuller picture. The emotions, tensions, that we get from the characters is portrayed beautifully on them. When he and Dan show us the inside of Drumm’s ship well that took it to a whole new level.
This is without a doubt one of the most complex and interesting reads on stands today.