PROS:

-The art by Ryan Kelly and Giulia Brusco are top notch as always. I noticed especially in this issue that the emotions are displayed much better then before. When we see someone get angry I believe they are angry. When Arcadia is….well ‘violated’ by the aliens it was really uncomfortable because of how Kelly drew her in extreme close up. The colors by Brusco are bright and vibrant as always and they really blend nicely to Kelly’s inks.

-While this issue wasn’t a ‘five star’ rating for me the story was much more interesting here. Getting more of a sense on what happened to Arcadia is definitely needed here. While we still have no idea what the alien’s goals are, we know that they have something sinister planned in the long run.

CONS:

-What ultimately is making me drop the series for a trade wait is that the book is still too much of a slow burn for me. Cornell provides SOME answers to what’s happening to Arcadia but I still have no idea what is going on in other areas. Why is Michael being abducted all the time? What is the psychiatrist and his new friends planning? Who is this chick that is spying on Arcadia’s friends? Cornell’s writing isn’t bad here but I just can’t see myself buying another Vertigo series that takes forever to get anywhere.

CONCLUSION:

I love aliens, I love Paul Cornell, and I love this art team. But I learned my lesson with Sweet Tooth in that I can wait for trade for the future with slow series like this. If this is your sort of thing and you don’t mind the slow pace then I urge anyone to buy it. There’s nothing wrong technically with this series but I’ll wait for future adventures for this Presidential candidate another day.