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Mosaic #4
Publisher: Marvel
Writer: Geoffrey Thorne
Artist(s): Khary Randolph & Thony Silas
Colorist(s): Emilio Lopez & Andres Mossa
Cover: Keron Grant

As the latest Inhuman is adjusting to his new abilities, Morris Sackett also discovered an unexpected level of betrayal that has rocked him to his core. So the only thing to do now is for him to get to the truth and for that he has to reach his father. A feat that is easier said than done. But after taking over the body of Spider-Man, Morris has one more fight to win before he gets

With most of this issue taking place in the mental landscape of Peter Parker we see that Thorne has a great appreciation for Peter’s genius. He shows how that genius is overwhelming to someone like Morris who is assaulted by memories, formulas, and scientific questions about the super hero community. Thorne also shows off some defenses that Peter has put in place for situations just like this one. This mental battle also reveals much about Morris himself especially when it comes to the philosophies about what makes someone extraordinary. It’s a much different one than what Peter was taught but it gives him the drive to do what needs to be done in this issue. When it comes to the rest of the issue, Thorne’s supporting cast does their job well but the standout has been Morris’ father, Mason. He’s drops a huge bomb in this issue and I’m crossing my fingers that he can become a serious villain in the future. I might be projecting a bit but there’s a serious lack of Black villains and someone like Mason has the potential to be a good one thanks to Thorne’s introduction.

Randolph and Lopez handle a majority of the art this issue and once again they deliver their style of dynamic visual storytelling. It’s always good to see these two move a story and they have not slacked once on Mosaic. The battle between Mosaic and Spider-Man is the real standout here but the visuals really kick up when Randolph abandons regular layouts and things get crazy! This helps with the key flashback moments that Spider-Man fans will appreciate right before Mosaic starts to fight against Peter’s mental defenses. Lopez’s colors keeps the look of these sequences eye popping and adds another level to the action taking place. When Spider-Man and Mosaic actually get to the physical fight it’s another look at how this new character’s powers work and how it reacts to threats on the mental landscape. Thought that punch across Mosaic’s face was pretty telling as pieces of his face flew off along with the “blood”.  As fun as this sequence was I’m pretty sure Randolph might not want to draw another hexagon for quite some time. The last few pages by Silas and Mossa do a fine job of trying to keep the visual aesthetic set by Randolph and Lopez so that there’s not a great shift in the look of the story

In the beginning, I wasn’t feeling the appearance of an established Marvel character so soon in the series and was even more upset to find that it was Spider-Man. However, Thorne made this issue better than expected by showing us Mosaic’s developing abilities in this trial by fire with some deeper characterization. Plus I give any creative team props that makes a solid effort to showcase a way to display Peter Parker’s intellect in brand new ways and this was a great effort. So if you’ve been sleeping on Mosaic then it’s time for you to wake up and give the new series a look.

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