Cutter starts off with a bang, or a slash, rather, so gruesome I felt like I could actually hear the sound of shears sinking into flesh. It

Shit does, indeed, go down at the prison while Nate is inside warning Eve, and we are introduced

While Elden waits for Galgo to deliver Francis to his Alien-infested ship, the Predators lurk nearby. Olivetti allows us tiny glimpses of them before we even know whats happening. And just as Elden prepares to take Francis captive, theres a breach and Predators come pouring in. What happens next is a virtual terror shit show. Elden fucks with the basic functions of the Geryon while Predators do what they do best: hunt and kill. At this point, not only are Eldens watch-Aliens tearing their way through the crew

Issue two takes us international as Katya begins the hunt for clues that her late husband, Walker, sent her premortem (only to be useful postmortem). Don't you worry, the international bashing of a mans skull until he sings like a canary looks a lot like it does in America. And as with last issues beat-down, Katya loses her suspectright before the critical information is revealedto some kind of mysterious stroke that appears to be manufactured by The Names to silence the squeals of desperate men. But

The first issue of this arc could not have played out more perfectly had the gods of perfect comics written it themselves. Christopher Mitten was born to illustrate Cal McDonalds world. His art is gritty, loose, hazardous. It feelslike the most terrifyingly accurate representation of Niles mind. Theres some deep shit here. Like Niles said, its going to get intense. This emotional river runs wild and I have a feeling well be touching on issues like self-acceptance, addiction, forgiveness, and most importantly, redemption.