The penultimate issue is here and the war of gods is only heating up. We check it out for you and answer the question: is it good?
Red Thorn #12 (Vertigo)
So what’s it about? For the full Vertigo summary just read this:
Thorn travels to the Otherworld and does not like what he finds there. Tarek takes on a villain, but not the one you’re expecting. Amaka tells us how she managed to survive a threat that would have killed anyone else on Earth…and Ness prepares to do something she’d sworn she never would. The twelfth chapter of Red Thorn answers almost all the questions you’ve been asking all year. Almost.
Why does this book matter?
The story is incredibly neo-mythic capturing the hopes and fears of today as old gods attempt to cope and coexist. The art has a cartoony style that meshes well with the gore and nudity. Yes nudity!
Fine, you have my attention. What’s good about it?
Thanks for the explanation.
More gods are vanquished, powers are restored and changed, and a certain monster known as Ness makes an explosive entrance. As far as penultimate issues go, David Baillie is setting things up well with everything coming together nicely for an explosive final issue. The bigger story, that of how gods coexist with humanity, is explored as well as their duties to protect too. Baillie is clearly building towards a new world of god and mankind working together since they’ve been hidden away from each other for so long.
Meghan Hetrick and Ryan Kelly’s art does well to keep the pages interesting while characters postulate and the double page of Ness is fantastical in its epic nature. Kelly finishes the book out in a more detailed look and feel that certainly doesn’t disappoint, though the style is far removed from Hetrick’s.
It can’t be perfect can it?
There’s a lot of talking in this issue and to what end remains to be seen. Baillie adds a bit of action with two fantastic full page splash moments, but there’s a lot of talking and waiting around that slow things down to a crawl. The story seems to be wrapping things up a little too quickly, possibly because it is ending too soon, which makes the proceedings feel rushed.
He sounds a lot like Trump.
Is It Good?
If you dig myths and gods you’ll wanna check this book out. A cool underworld is revealed further though it’s slowed due to it setting up the big finale next issue.
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