Written by Rick Remender
Art by Paul Azaceta
Published by Image Comics
Writer Rick Remender has been pushing out some of the more original comic books in years. He hasn’t done any real work for the big two in quite some time and personally I am happy to see that. His original content has been very strong and entertaining overall.
His latest book through Image Comics is quite a treat as well. He takes a few genres and mashes them right up in a blender. And hey, he even brings along his old collaborator from the book Outcast along for the ride, artist Paul Azaceta.
This book has an interesting premise right from the get go. It concerns the four daughters of the world renowned Seasons Detectives. The daughters are named Summer, Spring, Winter and Autumn.
Is this a bit too “on the nose?” Sure. But luckily the book goes to some truly unique territory to make this whole book worth it. The sisters have a lot going on in their lives. But the biggest thing that factors into the plot is that their parents disappeared ten years ago.
The sisters have no idea what has happened to them. The only thing it did do for the sisters is that it allowed them to form an unbreakable bond. But it is a bond that is about to be tested in ways that they could not possibly imagine.
There is a lot of love between the sisters and the creative team make that apparent right away. There is a lot of good humor introduced as well. And there is also something sinister lurking beneath the surface of it all. One of the more evil things to happen in the book is in the first chapter. A traveling circus of sorts starts to go through the streets in a deadly manner. It is bright and looks like a happy place to be but it is anything but that. But more on this later on.
First, Remender and Azaceta introduce us to the sisters, one by one.
There is a lot of slapstick that happens as we meet the sisters, especially in the part where we meet Spring. They all have various personalities that are all unique. At first, it is so full of humor and madcap moments that it might lead one to ask what the point of it all is anyway? But if you just trust in the creative team, you find out pretty quickly. Patience does pay off in this comic for sure. It actually pays off in spades by the end of this volume.
As the book goes on though, it does get progressively darker. We learn that this mysterious circus has been going city to city effectively destroying them. We get to see some of the damage that both the circus and especially their ringleader have caused. We even get to learn a bit about the circus and where they come from. It gives the book a certain weight to it and some of the scenes that follow are positively haunting and even disturbing.
The four sisters are drawn into the case of figuring out what this circus is all about. They have to look into it and see why this is all happening. They also have to figure out a way to stop this circus from wreaking any more havoc on the world. But can the sisters work together to do so? Can they stand each other long enough to make it all happen? Or is the world going to go to hell because of this circus and its malicious intentions?
After the opening chapter, the book moves at a steady clip where a lot of these questions are asked and answered in quick succession. We get to see a lot of things happen quickly. Secrets are revealed. More craziness happens. And we also get to learn what the connection is between this circus and the disappearance of the girls parents, the world renowned Seasons Detectives.
The story and artwork are both great in this book. Rick Remender and Paul Azaceta work so well off each other at this point that everything flows easily. Azaceta does a lot of heavy lifting here with his artwork, but the whole thing works great.
I’m ready for more and can’t wait to read future volumes in this series.
RATING: A-
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