Courage is essential for all … especially when times are the darkest.
Creative Staff:
Writer: Meredith Finch
Artwork: Ig Guara
Colors: Triona Farrell
Letters: Cardinal Rae
What They Say:
As the final battle dawns, Dante and Felix must overcome their animosity toward each other if they hope to prevent Rose from succumbing to darkness.
Content (please note that portions of review may contain spoilers):
In a moment of boastful pride Dru appears to be taken in my Dante’s sincere apology, and to show her former champion how much she still trusts him, the Queen escorts him into the depths of Venta Belgarum to display her latest acquisitions – the Guardian Rose and trusted khat Thorne. However all is not as it seems, with the feline protector now under her complete control providing this vicious tyrant with no qualms in tormenting prisoners, as the two males grapple to gain the upper hand in this one sided dance of death. Even as the chained white haired maiden cries out in excruciating desperation for Simon not to hurt her friend, this powerful brute of a man is unable to perform the impossible, with the ferocity of rage and helplessness fueling nine inch claws, threatening to rend flesh from bone. Although Rose’s human protector insists her feelings can still break through to the beast, the mental anguish of seeing her companions battle wears down an already weakened resolve, all while trying to vanquish the vile sway over her loyal partner. It is only made worse as Drucilla constantly taunts and harangues her guests, the incessant verbal torture cutting as deep as any tooth, nail or claw, with caustic words salting ever freshening wounds.
But as this contest of life and death continues within the bowels of Ttereve, Prince Felix has his own conflict to settle as he tries to find his once cherished sister, determined to bring a stop to her maniacal plans. Even if he finds the security lacking within the castle, there is one who will not allow passage as this loving brother overhears devilish plans being concocted by one of the queen’s allies. Yet still there is hope as others within the rebellion fight for survival, with Will protecting his young charge Artus as he feverishly searches for his mother’s research notes on overcoming the plague, forced to leave his friend behind with a mad rush back to camp. And yet while those compatriots struggle with their own challenges, Rose finds herself forced to watch a contest too painful to bear – seeing her protectors attempting to kill each other. However as the confrontation continues, Dante still insists in verbally encourage his hopeless friend, reinforcing his belief in her strength, even as her own resolve disintegrates with each passing second. Drucilla cannot but express her extreme rapture in watching her prisoners suffer, for with each cry of pain and distress her own boldness grows in intensity by which she relishes with utter satisfaction. And yet this is not enough for this vile tyrant, her own sadistic pleasure cannot satiate the hunger consuming her, needing more to placate the emptiness than allowing herself to command death itself. With the worth of plaything Simon now at the end of his usefulness, the vengeful queen easily flings him aside and allows herself the one simplicity she wished from the beginning – to gaze upon with ghoulish delight as those two most hated foes entered into a mortal contest … Rose versus Thorne, with the winner having been decided by the most impartial of judges – herself.
In Summary:
A heart wrenching issue such as this is the worse possible scenario for a penultimate issue, leaving us to wonder what more can such an amazing writer like Meredith Finch take from us by creating a clichéd Damsel in Distress proposal, and yet in this case it works by plunging the reader into the same desperate situation as our heroine. To watch helpless as two loyal friends fight to the death, Dante knowing he cannot hold back and yet as Rose pleads to save her feline protector, he cannot but acknowledge this is the only option to save them all. But what makes it so cruel and despicable is to view Simon’s once beautiful mistress has become distorted into this shell of a woman, he knew the person she once was, but all he can see now is a warped Goddess of Darkness. To fashion such a perverted triangle of death shows us how Finch is able to evolve the standard of adventure films and turn it into a tragically delicious dramatic sequence which only makes the reader care for all the characters even more.
You cannot but shed tears as we watch the conflict unfold, the moral dilemma of knowing Dru and with Rose’s unwitting cooperation, have forced this hulking knight into the proverbial corner, with no possibility of escape in sight. This conundrum is what makes the trap so satisfying from the Queen’s viewpoint, I would not put it past her for thinking this far in advance and knowing sentimentality would be their undoing. But of course she cannot but help to masochistically participate by taunting the group: Dante torn up inside seeing his innocent ward and the woman whom he once loved tugging from both ends, all while Thorne literally threatens to tear him apart from the outside. And yet the wondrous poetic irony cannot but be insinuated as we watch – in order to save Rose, Simon must either puck the Thorne or sacrifice the flower and vice versus, he cannot do both. Did Drucilla also concoct this scheme … this machination making the audience hate her even more as we admire her strategic mind in provoking this psychological torture. To shudder in frustration as we read these painful efforts, the audience cannot but have become emotionally anchored to these characters, whether they be friend or foe, after fifteen issues we have become invested within their development and thus demand us to watch as the trauma deepens and resigned to stay until the conflict resolves itself.
However you cannot recognize the developments within Rose without first comprehending the people who support both antagonists and protagonists, and thus learn from their mistakes. Finch does not ignore these actors by brushing them aside in a vain hope the audience will understand their troubles, instead she allows for a literary intermission to flesh out every nuance of these supporters, from Prince Felix onto Artus. While the royal brother of course would want to help his sister, at the same time you cannot but think the prince would have the slightest inkling to give up on her or she is beyond help, at least until he sees a demonic ally skulking within the bowels of the castle; as most who have siblings, one cannot but hope to understand them and sympathize with their problems, just as Felix probably hopes to try reconciling with Dru knowing all of this likely branched off from their father trying to marry off the young girl, soon after losing their mother and not allowed to be with her due to the overbearing nursemaid Dolora. But then we face the situation of Artus trying to save the helpless with his mother’s research, all while Will attempts to block entry from those who would stop them, or more importantly, quell the rebellion. This once again is one of those moments where you cannot but smile, these two contrasting personalities – one meek and unpresuming and the other a man who is expected to put up a front to lead needing to cooperate; but as the are forced to work together, I like how Finch created a symbiosis where Artus became stronger off his mentor, able to stand up to this forceful man and now is braver for the effort, understanding both their responsibilities and roles to save those being oppressed. All of these moments only help to reinforce Rose’s struggles against Drucilla … showing us she is not only fighting for herself, but also for those who rely on her to lead the way out the darkness suffocating Ttereve.
As we near the end, it does not mean the artistry of this title can be sacrificed in lieu of allowing narrative to compensate with emotional throes of the characters, on the contrary they must reinforce moments to draw readers into this tremendous conflict, and this is exactly what this talented team does for this book. It is stunning to watch events unfold with wild abandon under Ig Guara’s skilled hands, the opening scene of Dante standing over with great sword raised and the raging power of Thorne is spectacular, all as Rose watches on hopelessly, provoking memories of how she first appeared so long ago. But what truly livens the scene are the inspiring colors of Triona Farrell, allowing simplicity to evoke passion, and this cannot be more so envisioned than the next page when the two beasts engage in mortal battle – the plain background of crimson littered with action lines contrasts so magnificently against the gradients of ebon fur, tooth and claw of both hungry for blood, with the explosive subtleties of Simon, you can almost hear both screaming for survival. And yet they keep adding onto the emotional pyre as Guara creates a moving panorama of innocence versus sadism … Rose cannot compete against Drucilla, and the vile queen only provokes the issue forward with her madness emanating off the page, allowing Farrell to magnify the desperation with warm pinks and open eyes against the chilling thrill of turquoise and midnight blue, all reflected within her empty and dark eyes accented brilliantly by a small speck of the same tone. It is wonderful how they continue this sickening color palette onward to evoke the same coldness of the queen, someone who was so beautiful before now consumed by madness, a coldness pervading the atmosphere visually all as we as watch with Rose helplessly, amplifying the tension ruthlessly all as we cheer in silence as our heroine finally lashes out in defiance, giving us a need to hope. If this is the environment by which we are lead into the finale, how can we wish for anything more?
Monumental sadness versus the masochism of a mad queen, we all knew it would come to this, naiveté cannot hope to challenge a villainy which has consumed someone for years, and now Rose must confront it head on. The pieces are set, the board is composed for what would seem a hopeless battle, and yet this Queen stands confident against her former Knight, a Rook under her complete rapture and a Pawn with no chance at all – but Rose still pushes forward. We all knew Rose would conclude eventually, but to see the characters we have so fully embraced meet a fate like this seems surreal, as if it were all a nightmare which we cannot wake. And yet to see a young woman now forced to face the reality of that phantasm, it only makes us cheer ever harder, hoping beyond hope she will prevail and prove to us all that even innocence has strength within itself. This is how you make readers want more … even as we know it will all come to a unwanted end.
Grade: A+
Rating: T (for Teens)
Released By: Image Comics
Release Date: January 9th, 2019
MSRP: $3.99
