“Sundowners” started off on the right foot, but stumbled in a meandering second issue. I’m here to say it’s found itself again and is back better than ever in issue #3.
WRITTEN BY: Tim Seely
ART BY: Jim Terry
PUBLISHER: Dark Horse Comics
PRICE: $3.50
RELEASE: October 29 2014
Reviewed by Torin Chambers
Our sorry bunch of ‘heroes’ fall even farther from anyone expectations of a super hero, it’s awesome. It’s an utter joy to read about these incredibly flawed characters and watch them descend further into madness. These aren’t your generic ‘crazy’ people, they’re all struggling with mental illness in a very real way and as awful as that is I can’t look away.
It’s tragic how close these people come to doing some kind of good only to be held back by their crippling illnesses. At the same time this also makes them intimately relatable. No matter how fucked up they are they’re still people, people trying to deal with life in their own – mostly self destructive – way.
Crowlita has been tailing Meghan, a woman she believes has connections to the people who took Volf. She follows her on the el train even though the crowded trains give her anxiety that could lead to a brutal panic attack. She tails Meghan to a church before succumbing to a terrifying panic attack, seeing thousands of horrific meaty shellfish swarming around her.
As Crowlita faces her own demons Citizen breaks into his ex-wifes house. Having had a bad day he just doesn’t want to be alone but we learn he’s been loosing himself to paranoia for a long time. His ex-wife, reasonably, wants nothing to do with it. The whole scene is almost heartbreaking to read. This man has fallen so far into himself and his insane paranoia that even when he genuinely tries to reach out he’s rejected. He’s burned his own bridges.
Later in the issue we’re introduced to Brandon, an astonishingly unhinged man who has some kind of past with Andrea. While our heroes are good people carrying an incredibly heavy weight, Brandon is a straight psychopath. He could possibly have a connection to the people who took Volf, he does ware all black and seems to be far more skilled than our heroes. I’m interested to see how he fits into all of this.
Sundowners is becoming more and more of a character piece on mental illness. The characters are becoming more flawed and unhinged with each issue. It’s an enthralling read that delves deep into the psyche and isn’t afraid to portray deeply troubled characters.
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Torin Chambers is a rad dude from the nineties who does film stuff or something. Thomas the Tank Engine is his favorite transformer. Find him on Twitter: Vulgar_Rhombus