Writer: John Allison
Artist: Christine Larsen
Colorist: Sarah Stern
Lettering: Jim Campbell
Cover: Christine Larsen
Publisher: BOOM! Studios/BOOM! Box
Spoilers
Ah yes, we are finally in the world beyond the portal for more than a few panels! Chip and Barney follow Jane and Heather through the vortex this time, to flesh out the film crew that Jane needs for her documentary. Tour guide Gardt is supposed to be showing them around in exchange for 80s pop culture objects, but you can only imagine how well that’s gonna go…
This series is one of my current favorites. I love all of the characters; they are both very archetypal and very individual at the same time, which is tough to pull off. Chip is a welcome addition to the team; it’s cool that he’s this parental figure that is also still kind of a little boy in a grown man’s body. I can’t express my appreciation for him enough. Also, Chip’s eyebrows and chin: A+. Barney adds a comedic touch, though more so in the first few issues and less here; since Gardt fills that role in this fourth installment.
I do wish we got to see more of the world. We are little by little, which is wonderful, but I feel like having a larger portion of it revealed, would help readers see this new place more like how the characters would. Their reactions, too, seem really subdued this time around, which I guess works if they are getting used to it, but still…how awesome is it that they found this new world through a portal with all of these strange beings? Even if they’ve been there before.
All in all, though, it’s still a great series. I am digging the conflict between Jane and Heather; it’s very real. I also can’t say enough about the art, which is just so charming and absolutely appealing to me. This is a top notch team here, folks. If you’ve been missing this, don’t miss it any longer.
Overall: 9/10
Tee LaFrance Todd writes, edits, reads, explores, and creates whenever she can find the time. When she’s not engaged in some form of storytelling, you can find Tee traversing the world with her husband and her dog, making things, reading tarot cards, and generally striving to live a life beyond anything she can imagine.
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