The balance continues to shift.
Creative Staff:
Story: Jim Zub
Art: Steve Cummings
Colors: Tamra Bonvillain
What They Say:
Tokyo Tower is under siege as Yokai and young gods clash.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Wayward moves through another arc here in its larger storyline and things continue to come into focus with it. While I still find that the book is moving far too quickly overall, not giving us enough time to really connect with the characters themselves and build true personalities, I’m enjoying seeing the bigger pieces move into place throughout it. Particularly coming from a heavy manga/anime background over the years where there are familiar elements with mild subversions put into play for the Western market. While a lot of manga and anime series used to work through killing off characters in action series years ago, that’s dropped considerably. But with the freedom here, Zub and Cummings are able to make things feel like they have impact because of the end arcs for characters.
The bigger picture is what continues to play out here as we see how Nurarihyon is doing his best to try and find the right balance in order to survive into this new world. It’s been made plainly clear that the kids are the new gods of the new millennium, though they don’t grasp it yet. Nurarihyon is looking at how to be a part of it while also cautioning those from his period. That falls on deaf ears when it comes to Genroku as he intends to step out of the shadows and reassert his position in the modern world as he believes the ways of doing things has proven the wrong way. With these two styles in motion, we also get the Tsuchigomu who are using Rori in order to secure their own future through these new gods. It’s a good bit of diversity, not a simple black/white approach, and watching the various threads at play with how they interact a lot more engaging because of it.
Genroku’s attack to push back against “Rori” and her crew plays out in a big way amid Tokyo Tower and this allows us to see everyone working as a team, to some degree. Some like Ayane are more into it than others like Orihara, who finds herself disturbed by the level of violence and brutality of what they’re doing. It’s a good if brief reconnect with the various players, but the real focus is on the controlled Rori as she puts Genroku down in a hard and cruel way. There’s a potential split in the dynamic of the team if this continues on and understandably so with what they see. The action itself is well choreographed and Cummings does a great job of giving us some great backgrounds in order to really make it feel real throughout. The fiery sequences alone sell it, particularly with Genroku’s end in making it clear just what it is that the Tsuchigomu are up to with their goals.
In Summary:
Wayward blazes through more action here, almost literally in some cases, and that keeps it all moving at a brisk pace that can be a little off-putting. I admit to wanting a bit more meat out of each chapter yet I’m not sure that it would fit with the style of the book at this point. The cast are shaping up well and the larger goals are coming into light in a way that makes it more compelling than it was before, though I wish it had a little more character material as a whole to give it that extra oomph. Zub’s script keeps things moving right along though and it’s a very fun ride that’s made all the more engaging thanks to Cummings artwork. It’s just a lot of fun to check out and see all the little details in the backgrounds and the like. This issue also gives us a look in the bonus section at the fake anime aspect that they came up with as well as a four four-panel strips that should make you grin. If only we could get a Wayward one-shot four-panel book.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Image Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: January 20th, 2016
MSRP: $2.99
