Darling #4

Darling #4

Source Point Press 2021

Written by Michael Fleizach & Todd Hunt

Illustrated by Dave Mims

Lettered by Zack Turner

The lovely Delilah makes her entrance. Before Francis and Finch walk into every bad neighborhood your mother warned you about, they stop for a little firepower. What better place to grab a haunted revolver than "Darby's Sushi & Pawn"? While Darby tries to dissuade Francis from purchasing a cursed colt named Delilah, his silent sidekick loads up like it's a goddamn biblical do-over (this may not be Finch's first rodeo). Dance floors will be bloodied before the night is over.

To be honest half of me isn’t quite sure if Francis is still high as a kite or not and hallucinating what we are seeing or if he’s between doses. Granted in all my years of illegal narcotics use I never shot myself up so this is for me unchartered territory but I have to guess that he’s so far into use that there’s a touch of fantasy in every aspect of his reality at this point although I could be terribly wrong and completely off base. Regardless this is something that happens with this story at an alarming frequency, you go off page to contemplate what effect the story has on you as you are so fully engaged in what it is you see.

I am very much enjoying 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 presented exceptionally well. The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter continues to flesh out their personalities in some great ways. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing more of the story the more anxious and excited we get for what’s still to come.

I am really impressed with the way that we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen. That these layers open up avenues to be explored and how we see them tackled really does add some great 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 exceptionally achieved.

The interiors here feel a little different to me this issue. The linework is definitely interesting and it has this scratchy quality to it that I actually find rather nice. I think what it does is add to the feeling of a world distorted by drug use, that could be me seeing more into this than was originally intended but hey. There are times, during the flashbacks, that don’t appear as scratchy hence my feelings. Still the linework and how we see varying weights and techniques being utilised to create the detail within the work we see is well rendered. Also that transformation in Finch is utterly epic. I would like to see more backgrounds being used, they are in a Pawn Shop/Sushi Joint and the possibilities are endless and we see so little. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a strong talented eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is rendered extremely well.

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With such a heavy heady subject as this to be able to turn it into both this amazing story and cautionary tale is spectacularly well achieved. That this is just as able to make the reader think, expand what’s on the page and into their own mind and still excite the readers’ creativity and imagination is a balancing act that any highwire artist will tell you isn't easy to achieve. With some extremely strong intelligent writing and some utterly phenomenal characterisation wrapped up in these stylised interiors to create this magnificent tale.