By: Kelly Sue DeConnick (story), Emma Rios (art), Jordie Bellaire (colors)
The Story: In a bit of a twist, Death reveals that he doesn’t care so much for dying.
The Review: Speculation is a fun pastime when it comes to fiction, but frequently a futile one. More often than not, your well-intentioned guesses as to what’s going on and what’s going to happen next end up wrong. That’s why, as tempting as it is for a critic to make predictions for the future of a story and thereby bolster his credibility, he’d be wiser to refrain, lest he risk damaging it instead.
On the other hand, it’s a helluva good feeling when one of your well-crafted deductions proves correct, isn’t it? A couple issues ago, I described Johnny’s role in the series as that of a trickster, someone compelled to make trouble. Here, when Sissy comes to after getting hauled out of the flooding river, she briefly sees him in the form of a coyote, a motif he confirms when he gives her his full name: “Johnny Coyote.” No myth-lover can fail to appreciate this connection to the trickster animal, so for once, I got it right. Yay me.
Now that I’m done tooting my own horn, it’s worth noting that the coyote isn’t just traditionally known for his wiliness, but as a mediator between life and death, a position ravens also tend to have in myths. So there’s the link between Johnny and his avian companion, Molly, as well as their interest in Sissy. As intermediaries in the life-death cycle, they have every reason to stay close to someone who may throw a stick into the spokes of that cycle.
For we learn that—spoiler alert—Sissy is “the Ascendant,” and the position she is ascending to is that of Death himself. Ginny’s mother observes that this handover of power usually means that Death himself “must die,” and she invites him to join her in “the Black.” Death’s refusal at first seems selfish, as if he’s unwilling to endure the same fate as all the creatures he’s ever visited. Then he declares, “Soon, you will be free. We will all be. Soon, no one will ever have to die again.” Seems like Death wants a happy ending for himself as much as anybody else does.
But if his earlier orders to have Fox kill Sissy still stand, Death’s happy ending will come at the cost of Sissy’s. Fox tells Ginny that the little happiness Sissy has ever experienced was no gift, but merely preparation for her future as the new Death, so that “when she took your daddy’s place, she’d feel the weight of that duty.” Even the vengeful Ginny sees the cruelty of that, though what she plans to do with the knowledge is unclear.
It’s especially difficult to make predictions at this point when the story seems to be speeding towards a big, climactic confrontation and we still only have the most superficial understanding of what it’s all about. Gathering Johnny, Molly, Sarah, Fox, Sissy, and Ginny all in the same caravan can’t help making you feel as if you’re on the verge of an ending, but it’ll be a waste if that’s what we actually get next month. Frankly, even if the series continues afterward, I wonder if it’ll get any bigger or more important than a fight to the Death, which both Fox and Johnny believe will “save the world.”
Rios’ style is unquestionably unique and modern—you can tell just by how fluidly she captures movement and action—but this issue makes you realize for the first time how influenced she is by the soap opera dramatics from an earlier generation of comic book artists: tight close-ups straight on the characters’ faces, focusing especially on the eyes. The difference with Rios is she’s far more tasteful in how much she pushes the expressions in each panel. Even at his most furious, Fox’s bared teeth and clenched jaw have none of that comically broad emotions that the common superhero artist usually brings to the table.
Conclusion: Although there is myth in this series, it’s the quiet, solemn myth of the frontier, filled with tragic overtones, expressed with dignity. The only unfortunate thing is how the issue makes you feel as if the myth is about to get cut short just it’s about to get really interesting.
Grade: B
– Minhquan Nguyen
Some Musings: – Go away, Butterfly and Bunny. You too, Hummingbird.
Grade
Conclusion