Boom! Studios 2016
Written by Kurt Sutter & Caitlin Kittredge
Illustrated by Jesus Hervas
Coloured by Adam Metcalfe
Lettered by Jim Campbell
Last issue ended with Lucas being shunted to a new location and coming face to face with his father in Vietnam. That’s where we pick up this issue. This series has been incredibly solid so far and what Kurt and Caitlin have been doing with Lucas is interesting but this issue with the whole thing with his father takes some place we haven’t been yet. We really get a chance to see him and how his father’s absence has left a hole in him and messed up his mind. It’s the kind of characterisation that we’ve been wanting to see and suddenly you can see how he ended up where he was in the first issue and how he became a servant of Gadrel.
This was the most personal we’ve gotten with Lucas so far and it really is kind of powerful in how it’s presented and the flashback included. This kind of raw emotional storytelling has such an effect on me as a reader and when it’s done this well you see things in the character you’ve never thought about being there.
To go along with that kind of storytelling Jesus and Adam seemed to have really upped their game here as well. The stuff they’ve been doing has been amazing but the use of backgrounds here and the way they evoke the emotions from the words are really striking. The use of page layouts through angles and perspective really do draw you in here magnificently. From Laos with the buildings to the flashback with his mom and everything else we see it’s crazy how much you feel when seeing this.
It’s also nice to see Lucas becoming bolder this issue. He and Alicia will never get along or be friends and she’s nothing liked Cyd. Still he’s not afraid to talk to her about her attitude and that she and Gadrel are perfect for one another and this emboldening in his nature is something that I’m loving seeing. It’s the character progression and whether it’s sparked by his current surroundings or the reminder of having daddy issues or something else is irrelevant it’s just nice to see.
The way this issue progresses and the way it ends is some promising stuff. This is the catalyst for how the last two issues of this run go. Whether or not Lucas is able to overcome the situation he finds himself in and turn the tables on Gadrel. He’s learned more this issue than in his entire life and as they say knowledge is power and what Gadrel mistakes for weakness in him is his nature and resolve working things out. He might have had a rough life and things didn’t go his way but it’s a turning point this issue. From here on out i’m not expecting to see the old Lucas anymore.
This is also the issue that separates this from any other time traveling, demon killing story of redemption ever made and puts into elite status.