Really a strange one. Excellent vibes, but full of things that don't make much sense. (Why does controlling vines mean Black Tom can control Emma? Why does cutting Black Tom kill him when blowing him up and setting him on fire barely slowed him down?)

This feels distinctly like a deck-clearing exercise for ideas that didn't pan out. Despite being heavily featured in the early promotional material, Mondo didn't show up until a disastrous annual almost a year in, then kind of floated around the background never developing any character traits beyond "very chill" or doing anything, and now suddenly turns out to be a traitor and is killed almost immediately. Meanwhile Gateway, who hasn't shown up since issue 7(!) abruptly decides that "his time among these children, no matter their fate... is over" He's like a guy who fell asleep drunk in the back room at the party surprising everyone when he suddenly comes out at 2 AM to say goodbye. Seeya bro, didn't realize you were still here.

As with a lot of the weaker stories of this run, however, it's buoyed by incredible art from Bachalo, Hanna and Vey. The textures of their work in this issue are just such a pleasure to look at, and they sell the darkness and drama of this story in a way that makes it possible to ride the energy past the story's shortcomings. more