Mar 30, 2024
Another excellent edition in one of the most consistently excellent series available. This issue is deep in lore, advancing numerous plotlines and character development. It is too rich in these developments for everything to be processed in a single reading.
SPOILERS/RECAP - It starts with Zinn, trapped in the Doctor's prison, somehow hearing Kippa's proclamation of love from the last issue. Hearing the voice of the little fox gives Zinn more will to live and to try to hold out for when he might be rescued. We see the Doctor speaking to Seizi, underlining that he knows that Maika will come for him to reclaim the power/gain the freedom of Zinn, but also to free Seizi out of love.It goes to Maika meeting with the mysterious Wave Court, wh
ich has been ordered to offer refuge to those fleeing the devastation on the mainland by the even more mysterious Wave Empress. We see Ren meeting with the had of a cat temple where we finally learn what has been happening in the time that our heroes were away/asleep in the prison of the Elder Gods. The Blood Court of the Doctor apparently formed an alliance with the Dusk and Dawn Courts to push back the Cumaea. Then Zinn appeared, controlled by the Doctor, and the Dusk and Dawn Courts went into hiding, apparently benefiting from a treaty with the Doctor. Now, the Doctor and the Monster have been slaughtering Arcanics and humans. Ren is given a clue as to what happened to the World Walkers and goes off to find them working in a shop chopping fish. We see Kippa in a dream, where she speaks to (probably) the Wave Empress, who encourages her and says that "small fish become titans who remake worlds". Kippa has a vision of Maika wearing the mask and wielding Zinn, but little Maika appears to tell her that she (Maika) and the mask are not what they appear. Finally, we enter Maika's dream, where she finds Zinn chained by the Doctor. Zinn warns her it is a trap and that he can only hide her from the Doctor briefly. He also tells her to tell Kippa that he heard her as the prison grows dark with the coming of the Doctor.
Again, this issue is rife will enormous character development and advancement of the plot. The cats have learned that the Doctor can only control Zinn for short times and that it exhausts him. We learned the Maika rampaged through the Dusk Court - more on that will be in the next issue, where the Wolf Queen and the Beast, Maika's possible sister, are on the cover. The mystery of Kippa deepens. What powers does she have, what role does she have to play, and who are the "sisters" of the Wave Empress that are speaking of her? Zinn even reveals to Maika that he thinks the Doctor's feelings about Maika are more complex than she realizes.
The art, as always, is fantastic. The almost full page depiction of Maika and Zinn in Kippa's dream is particularly good.
In recapping this, the depth of the story becomes more apparent. The next issue, with the return of the Wolf Queen and the Beast, should be great! more
