In this issue readers learn more about Rush’s character and Kate and Maggie’s increasingly complicated relationship. We also see how Batwoman’s intervention during Sune’s transport will feed into the Maggie/Kate thread. This is all fine and good but the real story here is the art. Reeder’s work in this issue is consistent, creative, and thoughtful. Her use of borders and gutters adds clarity and intelligibility amidst a somewhat fragmented and confusing narrative style. These elements—not the plot—really drive the pacing of this issue.

When Reeder varies these visual elements, she does so to better serve both the narrative and the art. For example, on pages 2-3 and 26-27 Reeder joins the borders of the rightmost panel to the subsequent leftmost panel to link illustrations of the same scene from different perspectives. The total effect is an understated sense of continuity running underneath careful shifts in perspective. Reeder illustrates the inherent limitations of our two-dimensional perspective as she intentionally obscures portions of these scenes. This allows her to render a richer, fuller visual experience later when she illustrates the same scene from a different perspective.

Reeder also uses perspective to convey emotion and involve the reader. There are several panels where changes in perspective allow us to adopt the perspectives of the characters, often during the narrative’s emotional high points. This is best illustrated when Rush’s arm is severed by Maro’s blade and again later as Maro towers above Rush when the latter is strapped to an operating table. In both cases, Reeder shifts the perspective so that we become Rush. In this way, she draws us in, bringing our experience of the narrative closer to that of her characters.

There aren’t a lot of splash pages here; Reeder opts for subtle techniques to purposefully convey meaning and emotion with great skill and efficacy. Artistically, this issue is well done and represents an interesting stylistic counterpoint to the work of J.H. Williams, III.