Comics
Review: ‘Alabaster: Wolves’ #4
Dancy Flammarion’s demonic travels continue in the fourth installment of Caitlìn R. Kiernan’s “Alabaster: Wolves”. This time, Dancy’s memories take a backseat to her spectral pal’s final tale – one that reveals the secrets of the town, and sets Dancy, Maisie, and that sketchy little blackbird up for a final battle that I’m sure will blow everybody out of the bayou.
WRITTEN BY: Caitlìn R. Kiernan
ART BY: Steve Lieber
PUBLISHER: Dark Horse
RELEASE: July 18
The newest issue of “Alabaster” opens with a stellar action sequence. The battle involves a big, beautifully illustrated monster and some tastefully placed wisecracks. From there, all becomes quiet and Maisie begins telling her own story. Most of the issue from here on out is a flashback, but the points that the story reveals blow your mind. The reveal not only straps you in for what will surely be a masterful final issue, but it also gets you thinking. At the end, you’re still questioning how Dancy is going to pull this off.
The art has been gorgeous since the first issue, and it continues to add depth to Kiernan’s story. Steve Lieber took his pen into overdrive for the first panels of this issue. The monster is so damn cool, and wickedly detailed. Paired with Dancy’s description, I can practically smell the beast (ew).
The flashback scenes are also awesome; the blue hue that’s cast over most of the panels propelw you into a different time. That shade in particular gives these panels an otherworldly element that seems to foreshadow the coming events on their own. And, as usual, these scenes are chock-full of monstrous combat and bloodshed.
The major dilemma in the issue allows you to fear for Dancy’s well-being, but the series has established her as a determined and resourceful character, so at the end of the day, you’re pulling for her side. I’m sure that the final issue will yield a hefty and intense battle, but personally, I’m waiting to see how they leave Dancy’s character, and what they’re going to do with her companions. Does the buck stop here? I can’t wait to find out.
4/5 Skulls
Reviewed by – Kaity McAllister
IDW Dark and Paramount recently joined forces to launch limited comic book tales set in the worlds of Smile and A Quiet Place, and we’ve learned today that they’ll continue hanging around in those franchise universes with two brand new limited series tales.
Entertainment Weekly has exclusively revealed this afternoon that IDW Dark’s Any Given Smile debuts in September, while A Quiet Place: Rising Tides arrives in November.
First up, from writer Stephanie Williams and artist Pablo Collar, Any Given Smile puts a football-themed twist on Parker Finn’s successful Smile movie franchise.
The five-part limited series is “set in January 1995, during the American Arena League football championship game in St. Augustine, Florida. The rising superstar of the Sharks, backup quarterback Dupree, is feeling the pressure from his teammates, the fans, and also the city’s gambling underworld, to whom he owes a considerable debt. Meanwhile, a sports journalist investigates a string of suicides that may be connected to the big game. At the very least, they are connected to a sinister entity that preys on the minds of its victims.”
From writer Declan Shalvey and artist Luke Sparrow, A Quiet Place: Rising Tides will also be a five-issue limited story. The comic book tale “brings the creatures to the Florida Keys, where a father-daughter duo attempt to survive on water in a houseboat.”
EW further details, “This tense family reunion coincides with the arrival of the vicious creatures that hunt through sound. Grace and her dad find safety on the open ocean, but she’ll have to make landfall sooner or later; the father’s oxygen tank and their supplies are running low, while a hurricane swiftly approaches.”
Learn more about both comic books over on Entertainment Weekly.
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