This origin story feels like a long time coming. Jeff Lemire had to introduce some type of villain into this series instead of just the mysterious plague. Abbot has been an imposing figure for the gang since he was introduced in the second arc. So it’ll be interesting to see how he became the hard ass leader that’s hell bent on finding a cure.

We have a split in art duties once again with Nate Powell doing the flashbacks for Johnny and Abbot. His style is similar to Lemire’s but it is cleaner and surprisingly has more detail. That isn’t to say Lemire doesn’t put detail into his work but I don’t recall the military stronghold being so full of buildings until now. My only issue with this flashback was that I didn’t find myself feeling sorry for Johnny all that much. Maybe I’m just a cold bastard (just asking for it in the comments) but Abbot seems to be in the right frame of mind here. Although if he wants to find a cure for this plague I find it questionable he has to kill everyone on sight and let his murderous (plague) dogs on them.

Maybe this issue would have been better suited if it happened a while ago. While there is a death in this issue, Lemire could have written this in a way where it was a straight up origin flashback for Abbot and Johnny. The art by Lemire and Powell though is what keeps this issue a blast to read. Maybe this series is dragging a bit to the finishing line but not so much with the art.