Broken Pieces #4
Publisher: Aspen
Writer: Mark Roslan
Artist: Cory Smith
Colors: Beth Sotelo
After last issue’s stunning ending, Sophie is lying on the ground, bleeding to death. Richard begins to panic, but then remembers that his body is constantly in a state of regeneration, so he slices open his arm and lets his blood drip into Sophie’s mouth. We then get a look into the headquarters of Trinion, and its maniacal leader. We also see how Richard’s wife, Gabriella, is trying to cope with losing her husband (sort of), and with her growing concern over the actual intentions of Trinion. Skip back to the recent past, in the lab Richard gets a phone call from his personal doctor and begins to lose it. Gabriella questions him about it, and he initially snaps at her, but then tells her that he’s just been informed that he has a tumor and only months to live. She tells him that they’ll find a way to beat it, and then we flash back to the present. We watch as Richard’s plan to save Sophie works, but it might be for nothing, as someone has come to face off against Richard with some remarkable abilities of his own.
This book is really flying under the radar, and that’s crazy. Roslan is telling a great action/sci-fi story, and that can’t be denied. You can really care about these characters through all four issues so far. There is a good flow from scene to scene, and a great mixture of dialog and action. There’s the greedy corporation and its even henchmen, and the altruistic scientists that think they’re solving real problems but actually have been under the influence of the evil company. A perfect antagonist and protagonist battle.
The pencils of Cory Smith and colors of Beth Sotelo are both very solid. Everything is as it should be with lines, facial expressions, backgrounds, etc. The main character is strong, and looks muscular but not too pumped up. The young girl, Sophie, looks tough, but you can see the youth in her face and know that she’s young. The threat that shows up in this issue is pretty cool, too. A similarity to Bane perhaps, but still a good one, while the real enemy is now something altogether different. The splashes of blood are quite good, too, and really enhance some of the panels.
Again, overall great book with a strong story and the artwork to back it up. There is only one more issue left in this series, and it should be a good one. Hopefully it can wrap up without any loose ends in just one more issue. Rating 4/5
Billy Dunleavy
billy@comicattack.net
