“This is what it sounds like when heathens die”
Creative Staff:
Story: Cullen Bunn, Heath Amodio
Art: Sami Kivela
Colors: Jason Wordie
Letterer: Simon Bowland
What They Say:
Death is not the end for those that are already dead. How many Heathens remain, and will they be enough to take down the Ripper and their followers?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
AfterShock’s latest project is moving along well with the pairing of Cullen Bunn and Heath Amodio writing with Sami Kivela on the artwork in the opening issue to solid results. It’s a good team that’s come together that’s made better with Jason Wordie’s colorwork and the result is a book that plays in a familiar field but with some really nice execution and style to it. Bunn and Amodio work through the setup quickly and effortlessly here so that we know the deal and who everyone is by name and pushes us right into things. Kivela’s artwork is really good here, covering a number of periods and designs for the cast, and the layouts keep it moving fast and in an engaging way.
As the property hits its fourth issue, I do find myself wishing that things were a bit tighter as things feel like they’re a bit too sprawling at the moment. A good chunk of this issue, almost half I’d suspect, focuses on Shih as she’s found her way to her “reward” and is coping with that reality. She’s really just either in purgatory or some form of hell as time moves slowly and the fight that goes on there takes eons as she watches others trying to climb the spire to heaven that they’ll never reach or line up to fall into an endless pit. While she talks about how this place is for testing resolve, the reality is that it’s just another flavor of hell for many and she knows that Stalin has lied to her completely by ending up here instead of the reward that she was promised. Which leaves her wondering what other lies have been told.
As to the rest of the gang, well, we get to keep up with them a bit through smaller segments throughout. Billy is pretty much dead here though he gets off a number of good shots first to save the woman he’s with and take down plenty of the others. That puts him with Shih but he’s in no rush to do anything else. Bump was knocked down before but it was all planned so he can follow and see where they’re taking his “partner” of the moment and figure out what’s going on there, which is fun enough. They get into a few escapades along the way with run-ins with either local law or locals themselves. But basically, everything just moves forward incrementally here while Shih gets her stuff together. There’s enough so that the rest of the main group gets their moments and deals with things in their own way, but it’s standard fare stuff overall.
In Summary:
Heathen’s opened strong and worked an interesting if familiar idea well but it plateaued quickly in its actual execution. It is thoroughly enjoyable and I really like the different elements of history that it plays with to tell its story. But it’s working through an all-too-familiar structure and that just leaves a lot of space where the wheels are spinning, especially an issue like this one. Amodio and Bunn’s script provides for some good stuff in the narration and dialogue while what we get from Kivela’s artwork is strong throughout with a lot of good sequences for fans to enjoy.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: AfterShock Comics
Release Date: February 23rd, 2022
MSRP: $3.99
