Written by: Kurtis Wiebe
Art by: Riley Rossmo
Letters by: Kelly Tindall
Published by: Image
What would have been the end to this mini-series, is now, much to my delight, the end of the first arc instead, meaning that there is much more Green Wake to come and that can only be a good thing.
After last issue’s revelations about the way Carl and Ariel’s relationship really ended, we are presented with a bleak but quite brilliant end to their plot thread. Rossmo handles this with monstrous flair, as Green Wake threatens to claim yet another victim.
Once this has happened, there is still about half the issue left to re-focus on Morley and begin to set up the next issue. The second half of the issue does feel like something that had to be added to make the necessary changes to set up subsequent stories, but it never feels jarring or irrelevant.
This second half, however, does contain what is probably the best pages of art so far in this series, which is saying a lot. Rossmo crafts this three page montage/mash-up of Morley’s past, present and a future that will never be. All extremes of emotion and everything that the reader needs to know about Morley are found across these three perfect pages that are both beautiful and heart breaking.
Green Wake is definitely the stand out series of the year, Wiebe’s writing and Rossmo’s art combine perfectly in the ultimate form of storytelling. Original, beautiful, compelling and sad, this comic is more than hard to top.
9/10
