Basilisk #4

Basilisk #4

BOOM! Studios 2021

Written by Cullen Bunn

Illustrated by Jonas Scharf

Coloured by Alex Guimarães

Lettered by Ed Dukeshire

The showdown between the Chimera and their hunters begins HERE!

Hannah and Regan, former victim and former member of the Chimera, arrive at an abandoned resort town in the mountains. Even as the two women uncover and struggle with their shared past, the Chimera and their Faithful descend on the area. To their surprise, Hannah has been waiting for their arrival, and the ensuing battle will have deadly consequences for those unprepared.

This is the issue we’ve been waiting for, or is it? Any time we see the opening that takes us back to when the group was first free, I am for that. I love seeing them like they are groggy, unsure and unaware of what is going on, who and what they are and seem to be going solely by instinct. It is far from an excuse for their behaviour but and this is a big but what we see makes me want to see more of how they’ve evolved into the cold blooded and ruthless beings they are today. Why because they are fascinating and as they became more aware that’s what I want to see them realising who and what they are. Damn you Cullen for another masterclass in writing and getting me invested and thoroughly engaged with these characters.

I am loving the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is exquisitely presented. The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances tell us a lot about who these characters are. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing more of the story we’re filled with this anxiousness in what’s about to happen.

How we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen are magnificently rendered. I love seeing how the layers are explored and the avenues chosen to take and how the characterisation and the twists & turns happen and change how the story goes. All this adds such wonderful depth, dimension and complexity to the story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is impeccably achieved.

The interiors here are absolutely bloody impressive. The style of work we see denoting the past really is utterly gorgeous and it so tells us exactly when it takes place. The more comic book style we see in the now portion is impressive in its own right. The linework is clean, crisp and sharp and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create such stunning detail work through the book is astonishing. We see the forest and the backgrounds utilised throughout and it makes me wonder why there are blank panels. How we see them expand and enhance the moments is beguiling and how they work within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story is impeccably rendered. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a masterful eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows such an understanding of how colour work, how to apply them and just overall maximise their effects.

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This is crazy good, I’m talking about a mad scientist with a successful experiment that will irrevocably change the world, for better or worse is up to you. The writing here is so captivating and with such crystal clear characterisation and these utterly brilliant interiors make this such a joy to read.