Power! Yes power! He’ll show them all his power.
It pulses through his ice-cold blood,
A whole world to devour!
–Anthrax (“Among the Living”)

The song is in fact dedicated to the same man to whom this issue is also dedicated: Mr. Randall Flagg.

Before Doctor Doom, Flagg – in all his stories and incarnations – was the
villain for me. He embodies all that is chaos and dark and alluring. A
master manipulator. With that in mind, I was going into this issue very
critical and hesitant, making sure that they do the character more
justice than other attempted adaptations. I was impressed and satisfied
to say the least. While I should not be surprised that the writing is
spot on – considering, you know, it’s straight from The Stand itself –
the pacing and placements and Perkins present a practically perfect
portrayal.

The rest of the issue – that which doesn’t deal with Flagg – sets the
stage for Book Two in a crescendo that can only come crashing down with
Book Two’s first issue. (Human) garbage trucks are dumping, buildings
are exploding, and politicians are lying. And no, no-one feels super.
(Besides the reader.) As with the Flagg pages, Perkins and Sacasa stay
the course of their incredible cruise that has Captain Trips at the
helm. The art, like the story, only seems to get better with each issue.

I might be a bit biased in regards to my thoughts of this issue, but
I’ll be damned if this isn’t the best issue yet. The Walkin’ Dude has
arrived, so although the bar has already been set pretty high, things
can only get better from here.