An end and a beginning.
Creative Staff:
Story: Marguerite Bennett
Art: Ariela Kristantina
Colors: Jessica Kholinne
Letters: A Larger World
What They Say:
In the climactic arc finale of INSEXTS, Lady and Mariah—the deadly Victorian vixens out for revenge—begin a chain reaction to alter their world forever…
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Insexts was an early series out of Aftershock that definitely put them on my radar to check out as they were working with great talent right out of the gate. I’ve enjoyed Marguerite Bennett’s works pretty damn regularly for the last couple of years and getting a regular run of material from the extremely talented Ariela Kristantina? That was something special. Sadly, I fell out of the book at the eighth issue due to cutting my costs and intended to get back to it, but when AfterShock sent out a review copy of this issue I couldn’t wait on filling in the blanks and just had to dive right into it. And then discover that this is the final issue of the series! That’s disappointing as hell, though it has me looking forward to where Kristantina will end up next, and the team puts things in a great place for the ending here.
The final fight against the opponent here is something that won’t resonate for me having not read this arc but it’s interesting that it wraps up in the first few pages overall, with Lady and Mariah going toe to toe with her and pushing back as best as they can. What turns the tide is the arrival of Phoebe, having been to Necropolis, and through her aid and those with her we get the goddess taken down and calmed, smoothing things out without it turning into large scale destruction. So much so that through Phoebe and her abilities those that were turned to stone and shattered are brought back together, restored in whole, and then brought back to life. It’s a really welcome moment to see it play out as it brings several things to conclusion for the supporting characters of this arc. The moment with Phoebe and her mother in particular is a beautifully done page.
The end of the arc is about halfway though and that shifts gears for the epilogue, which is given a good deal of space, as the Lady, Mariah, and their son are ready to start a new life in New York City as there are too many restrictions on their existence as a family in England or Paris at this point in time. The journey is simply started here but it’s delightful to see them board the ship all while a certain someone is watching over them, inebriated and going through their things, only to discover the women engaging in some fun intimacy once Will is put to sleep. Though this is wrapped up in an expected way I was simply delighted to see that Lady and Mariah got some quality time together after their family time with Will because the relationship between these two women has been one of the best parts of the series to see brought to life. The simple fact that Aftershock engaged in a book with open sexuality like this was a welcome sign back when it began and was an area where it made me treat the publisher a lot more seriously because they weren’t going to try and skirt things and be playful but rather engage, artfully and tastefully.
In Summary:
Insexts is a series that delivered very well for me for the run I read previously and I get the sense that this arc was a strong one too with how it ended. Marguerite Bennett is definitely a talent as many know from her varied works over the last few years and I absolutely adored everything that Ariela Kristantina brought to this series and that AfterShock went and let them run with it. What I really hope is that this is the kind of series where we see them stepping up their collections side a bit as once we get this half released we get a really great complete hardcover edition on some high quality paper for the fans to savor, a real definitive version that I’m already anxious to own and have a showpiece. Definitely recommneded in full.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 17+
Released By: AfterShock Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: September 13th, 2016
MSRP: $3.99
