The mission takes a much darker turn.
Creative Staff:
Story: Cullen Bunn
Art: Juan Doe
Letterer: Ryane Hill
What They Say:
In a bid to take control of Shrae’s ark, the vampires have staged a vicious attack on man and monster alike. Now, in the aftermath of the attack, Shrae and his family must decide how to carry on. But the attempted coup has drawn the attention of more powerful forces…forces of darkness…and forces of light!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Dark Ark closes out its first (of hopefully many) volume with this issue and it’s definitely one that leaves you feeling tense about what could happen. There’s been a palpable tension in this book from the get go with so many diverse creatures and humans on board the ark as they try to escape to survive the flood and that’s made for some strong story material that ratchets up to another level this time around. Bunn has delivered strong so far for me and Juan Doe’s artwork and color design for it just leaps off the page even more beautifully this time around with how the team is interpreting the arrival of angels. This can go a lot of different ways as we’ve seen in art over the years and I’m very taken with what Doe has done here.
The ideas behind this are intriguing as having them arrive just after dealing with Nex and the vampire attack is fortunate. It’s additional tension on top of a very bad time but the knowledge that if it had been much earlier it would have been disastrous for all. The crux of what saves everything is that to the angels, everyone looks alike and Shrae is thought to be Noah who had prayed for guidance from god. They’ve found Shrae’s ark first and are looking to help, though they feel that it and everything about it is below them. The attitude of it it all is intriguing as it’s a higher being/lower being dynamic with Shrae trying to massage the situation as best as possible by going along with being Noah while trying to keep them from discovering the truth of it all. There are so many close calls here that it’s frightening to watch unfold as it could turn very badly very quickly.
The fallout from this sets the stage for what’s to come in a really great way. The initial piece is the fact that we’ve got lots of creatures below listening to Shrae lie to the angels so well and it has them questioning what lies he’s told them, making his control even shakier. The humans down below see no help for them from the angels and become more resigned to things while the unicorns wonder if the angels came because of their prayers, leading them to hit the deck to try and get help. This comes to late and Shrae is, rightly, brutal with them from his perspective. But it’s an intriguing opening that’s revealed when Shrae confers with his dark master later about events as the unicorns were not supposed to be there and hints at what god may have been up to. The more amusing point that leads into the next run for the series is Shrae being told that he has to go and help Noah because the angels came to him instead, and Noah must survive as the dark master’s creatures must have sustenance when the floods finally end.
In Summary:
This series is one that’s essentially among my most anticipated works to dig into, which is more frustrating as I missed the fourth issue without realizing it and had to correct that before reading this one. Cullen Bunn’s story is really coming along here with some great little twists and setting a larger stage ahead that I can’t wait to get into. But I also love just flipping through this after reading it and soaking up the little details and layouts that Juan Doe has put together with all the various creature designs. The angels really stand out in a fantastic way here and I can only imagine what a scene in heaven must look like based on that and what Doe is capable of. It’s a long wait until this series returns in May but every issue is very much worth it.
Grade: A-
Age Rating: 17+
Released By: AfterShock Comics
Release Date: November 29th, 2017
MSRP: $3.99
