By: Terry Moore (script, art, letters, everything)
The Story: Rachel tries to get her life back in order and the creepy little girl might be headed to a foster home.
Three Things:
1. The detail in Terry Moore’s art is really impressive. – Of course, everyone knows that Terry Moore is great at drawing expressions. But, that’s to be expected from a dude who sells a book called, “Terry Moore’s How to Draw Expressions”. But the level of detail in his art always amazes me too. It’s never excessive and it never distracts from the storytelling elements on the page, but he always seems to know what to add to a panel to make it seem more real. A lot of this is unglamorous work: a garden hose and charcoal grill in a back yard or a bunch of detailed bark on a tree trunk. I mean, I don’t think many artists enjoy drawing garden hoses, but these scenes need something to fill in some dead space. It’s just nice to see an accomplished artist like Moore who is still doing the heavy lifting required to draw ~10 distinct outfits of clothes hanging in a closet (instead of just drawing a bunch of squiggly lines and calling it “clothes”)
2. Depressurized storytelling done right. – This certainly isn’t a fast-paced story and if you read my reviews of superhero comics, you might think that I HATE depressurized storytelling. But that isn’t true at all. I DO hate it when there’s no point and I DO hate it when we all know that Captain America is going to win at the end of the 6-issue arc. But, what Moore is doing here is depressurized and beautiful. Each panel has a point to it whether it just shows Rachel looking out the window or her interacting with her kinda butch aunt. Even the quiet pages have a lot of thought behind them.
3. Mysteries abound… – Why does the dog not like Rachel? Is it because she smells dead? Or is it because she’s possessed or something? Weird. What the hell is up with the bull’s head hanging over the bed that Rachel is sleeping in at the beginning? Does that have something to do with weird skull that was superimposed over Rachel’s face on the issue #4 cover? That bull’s head has to mean something, right? And sheesh, what was going on with that twisted foster family who shows up to take the little girl. I LOVE how the little girl gets out of it, but surely there is something to the nasty family. Or would the same outcome have occurred with a nice family? And how did the creepy “big sister” show up? Is she magic or what? It is going to be so much fun seeing these puzzle pieces start to fit together over the next few years.
Conclusion: This is another very good issue in a wonderful new series. Enjoy the creepy and deep storytelling and the wonderful art.
Grade: A-
-Dean Stell
Follow Dean on Twitter.
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