Ex Sanguine #3
Publisher: Dark Horse
Writers: Joshua Scott Emmons & Tim Seeley
Artist: Tim Seeley
Colors: Carlos Badilla
This issue brought us a peek into the past of Ashley. And what a peek it was. It seems she was a victim of bullying, and also suffered physical abuse from her father. Back at the FBI office, Quinn and Franks are discussing their next move. At this point, we see why Agent Quinn is amped up to solve this case. She was the victim of a vampire attack, where he captured, tortured, and then fed off of her. She still has nightmares about it, and wants desperately to stop this killer. Meanwhile, Saul has a moment of grieving over a dead fish of his. He takes it to the docks to dispose of it, but while there he’s disturbed by a rat. No ordinary rat, mind you, but one that is a human that can change into a rat (sort of like a werewolf). He learns from this rat that Ashley is attracting a lot of attention due to the writings on the walls after she makes a kill. This kind of attention, she doesn’t want!
Another great twist to this already awesome roller coaster of a series! The panels that showed Ashley’s past were absolutely awesome. It shed a lot of light on the reason why she’s insane. Also, the bit with Saul and the “rat” was quite good, too. It was very unexpected, and played a huge role in making this issue even more intriguing. Between the past of Saul, the FBI, and Ashley and her psychotic mental state, this book is exploding with nothing short of awesome! The last page was quite ominous, too!
The work Seeley is doing with the art is great. He has each character down pat, and that’s no joke. Ashley is super sexy, Saul has a few different looks to him, but definitely looks like a savage when he’s about to kill. He showed a different side in this issue when one of his pet fish died. The significance of that scene wasn’t revealed, but he looked very solemn when it happened. The cover is over the top, but it certainly fits the bill for this series. It also ties into the story, and that’s something that rarely happens these days with covers, so kudos for that! Rating 4/5
Billy Dunleavy
billy@comicattack.net
