The Resistance: Uprising #4

The Resistance: Uprising #4

AWA Upshot Studios 2021

Written by J. Michael Straczynski

Illustrated by C.P. Smith

Coloured by Lee Loughridge

Lettered by Sal Cipriano

Acclaimed writer J. Michael Straczynski returns to the prescient, ambitious world of The Resistance! In the wake of the assassination of their leader, the Resistance is in disarray, disconnected from each other and hunted by authorities around the world – including an army of "reborns" recruited by the American government. To avert decimation at the hands of a fascistic government crackdown, the Resistance must discover the ace up their sleeve, and then the key to unlocking it.

This issue is beyond sensational. I mean what we see the President of the United States doing and how those actions are explained to us by those who witness it is something I would never have thought to have done. It is absolutely terrifying to me to see the similarities between what we see in the story compared to the reality that is the world we live in. in many ways it feels like the fall of the western world as it were with politicians thinking they are more powerful than they are and taking advantage of the trust placed in them by the people, the abuse of power and the ability to instill great fear to get away with blatantly breaking the law of the land is all too real and all to familiar.

I am such a huge fan of 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 they act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter continues to flesh them out in some truly wondrous ways. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing more of the story and taking us on this journey we’re thrilled, terrified and increasingly intrigued by the turn of events.

How we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen is superb. That the layers contain the characterisation, the plot twists and so much more and what all of this does is add depth, dimension and complexity to the story. How everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is impeccably achieved.

The interiors here are mindboggllingly gorgeous! The linework is superb and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilsied to create this level & quality of detail in the work throughout the book is magnificently rendered. How we see backgrounds being so integral to the story as they enhance and expand the moments as well as 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 gorgeously rendered. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a masterful eye for storytelling. How we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work showcases a brilliant eye for how colour works.

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This is how the world would look should there be an event where things are done to give regular folks superpowers. It is a frighteningly realistic view of what our world would look like were some sort of virus endowed folks with these gifts. With some of today’s most incredible writing and realistic characterisation wrapped up in these stupendous interiors creates something that should give you nightmares for a myriad of different reasons.