Rapture #4

by Jason Laframboise on August 31, 2017

Written by MATT KINDT
Art by CAFU and JUAN JOSE RYP
Published by Valiant Comics


Okay here we are at the end of Rapture. It's been a fun journey through the Dead Side, well fun for us maybe not so much our heroes. In this mini series Tama the Geomancer, the protector of the spirit of the Earth, recruited a team of heroes to go into the dark afterlife dimension the Dead Side to prevent an evil being named Babel from completing his tower. Babel has also offered to help one of our heroes Jack Boniface aka the Magpie aka the Shadowman remove his Loa the source of his power. Will Jack fight off the temptation to live a normal life at the cost of all humanity or will we finally get the kick ass Shadowman I've been begging for from Valiant since day one.

The art in this issue is amazingly well done. The duo of artists who contribute to it are two of my favourite in the industry right now. Each page is a treat for the eyes. I love the blueish colour palette that's used in these issues, it really helps show the dark moodiness of the Dead Side. The portions drawn by perhaps my very favourite artist Juan Jose Ryp are amazing as always, and like every time I review something with his art I have to say I am dying for him to do a Conan story, it would be simply fabulous. 

There is another dimension introduced the Liveside that is basically a mirror image of the Dead Side. I was confused as I thought we lived on the Liveside, but okay well I was wrong and that's okay. I like when a writer can leave their stamp on the universe they are writing in. Matt Kindt did a really great job with this final issue with two things, Shadowman and Tama. Consistently through this mini series I have been very impressed with the way that Kindt really rounded out a character that honestly was a little lacking in character development in Tama. She is still mostly just a plot device but unlike previous appearances when she strictly was just something to move the plot along, she was given an opportunity to show some personality. There is still a lot of unanswered questions about her, such as if she has been sent into the past is there now no Geomancer in the future? Wouldn't that be a big negative for those folks, but I am sure in time these will be answered. The second huge plus about this series and this issue in particular we finally get a redemption of Shadowman. Jack Boniface has been a character that so far has been.....less than stellar. While this issue doesn't do away with all that baggage it does take some huge steps and teases some big stuff coming for the Shadowman. 
I loved the mini series and this issue was a great closing. everything from the art to the story was great. I made it through almost all of the review without mentioning my favourite character but hey Ninjak was awesome in this issue too. So there you go what more do you need a lavish multi-level story with great art and awesome story telling, go buy these issues and then buy the trade. It was great. 

Our Score:

10/10

A Look Inside