By: Terry Moore (writer/artist)
The Story: In a flashback, we learn some more about the “witches.”
Review (with SPOILERS): This issue of Rachel Rising really connected with me and I hope it represents a turning point the series (which is enjoyable, but has been spinning its wheels for a few issues). Maybe it’s GO time….
It is also an unusual issue of RR because it shows the first extended glimpse of the original “witches” who were originally killed by a Salem-esque lynch mob ~300 years ago. Through the series, we’ve come to understand that modern day women are the reincarnated souls of these witches, but we’ve never really seen this colonial era.
For me, this glimpse into the past really centered the series. These women aren’t really “witches”; they just had a sort of connection to life and the natural world. Given that they were living in a fundamentalist Christian community, anything that wasn’t understood must be the work of Satan so these women were hunted down and killed. I love it when writers give us comic material that can be connected to modern day problems because it shows how some themes are universal and there certainly is a continual practice in some religions to call anything unusual the work of Satan. If Terry Moore showed us more of these townfolk discussing the “witches” I bet someone would have accused the “witches” of being lesbians too and suggested that they would try to co-opt the town youth with their “gay agenda.”
Seeing Lilith also helped me to understand the modern day action in RR. You can see by her actions that Old Lilith she isn’t really evil, per se. She just has powers and a gift and she doesn’t suffer fools very well. It doesn’t seem as if Lilith is bent on destruction because she doesn’t do anything to harm the farm family – even as they’re calling her Satan and shoving pitchforks in her face. She almost treats the family like they are stupid children or rowdy dogs. However, you also detect a little bit of an edge on Lilith and you can totally see her becoming wrathful if/when the town murdered her and her followers. A 300 year-long vengeance plot certainly makes sense.
The other thing this issue feeds to us is the big reveal of why Rachel and Jet have such a close relationship. It turns out that Rachel is the reincarnation of this Bryn Erin and Jet is the reincarnation of her husband-to-be, James. It seems that before those two lovers died, they took some sort of magic sap that allowed them a version of immortality, although it is very interesting that James came back as a woman (Jet). I wonder what will happen now that Rachel and Jet know who they really are? I joked above about the witches being lesbians, but it would be an interesting modern-day parallel if they became lesbians and were persecuted by the local religious authorities for being influenced by Satan.
And all of THAT makes me wonder what Malus is up to?
It’s just a meaty issue. I love comics that make you think and keep revealing new potential angles the more that you think about them. RR has always been an interesting comic book, but now it seems to be adding a layer of depth that wasn’t previously there.
And, of course, the art is great. There are so many nuanced little scenes in this issue that Terry Moore is able to pull off just because he is a master of facial expressions. There’s also a lot of power in him working as writer and artist. He KNOWS what he can communicate with a facial expression and he KNOWS what emotions will require some expository dialog. He’s just a beast of an artist and a wonderful visual storyteller.
Conclusion: A great issue that reveals more depth to the series than I had previously appreciated.
Grade: A-
– Dean Stell
Grade
Conclusion