A new truth about the book.
Creative Staff:
Story: Cullen Bunn
Art: Leila Leiz
Colors: Vladimir Popov
Letterer: Jim Campbell
What They Say:
As Connor uncovers more about the strange children of nature who have taken them in, he begins to wonder whether Olivia Kade wrote the book that ended the world, or the book we all need to survive it.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Cullen Bunn’s run on this book is certainly interesting as it shows more and more of its true self, slowly but surely. This installment delivers a lot of montage-style pieces overall when you get down to it but it also makes clear some real truth about the book itself that Olivia has written. The character work here is built nicely all while teasing more and more of what’s in the book and showing the impact on the world. As we said before, I’m very familiar with his writing style and enjoy it, but this was only my second experience with artwork from Leila Leiz and that was four years ago. I really like what they present here as we get some great character designs, a gorgeously designed cover, and just a real sense of strength and passion to the work as a whole.
With Olivia drawn in by what the leader of the Wildling has shown so far, bringing her to the place where there’s a version of Olivia’s book ends up changing the view of things significantly for Olivia. While she believes it’s a fake version meant to make her book look old, the truth is that this book is decades old at least and it mirrors exactly what she’s written. The realization that the book was more something that used her as a vessel to be brought to the masses, to help shift the world into this kind of darkness and cruelty, really hits her hard because she’s starting to understand that they weren’t her words or ideas. She simply brought them to the page and the unfolding chaos isn’t exactly something she’s responsible for. Well, she is in some ways but this at least gives her a little bit of a way to push back at least in her own mind. Which also makes it easier to try and run away from all of this madness.
That has her eventually running into Connor in the woods as he’s being hunted by other members of the Wildling and are trying to tear him apart. Connor and Olivia have had a good relationship together so far so seeing them really lean into each other here to survive is well-presented. Them on the run through the woods and discovering a small town nearby ratchets up all the right horror chills, especially since the place is completely in ruins and abandoned. It speaks to the larger capabilities of the Wilding group, who show themselves here in a couple of ways, and that they’re clearly not going to let Olivia go. It’s really good to see how grim things are here as it sets the stage for a really difficult challenge ahead for however long this series actually is.
In Summary:
The main cover for this is grim but there’s a really neat variant cover that worked so much better even if the sexytimes are mildly inappropriate for the book at this point with all of its horror and gore. There is a lot of narration in here and more words from the book as it explores what Olivia has written for the thing that is directing all of this while also giving us a lot of time with the Wilding types. There’s some solid action throughout it but I really enjoyed the time that brings Olivia and Connor back together and how they cope with the situation. Leila Leiz continues to deliver a great book visually with all that it does and I can’t wait to see what they’re able to deliver as it progresses.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Vault Comics
Release Date: March 16th, 2022
MSRP: $3.99
