Writer: Tim Seeley
Artist: Mike Norton
January 2013
Image Comics
So it's raining right now and I'm currently sitting on my bed by the window at home (my parent's house) as it is Reading Break for some university students. I figure, what better time than now to start getting back into logging my thoughts on some comics! I've just finished re-reading Revival #6. It's the start of a new arc (sort of...) and I'd like to get into the habit of reviewing this series each and every month from now on (and several others, which you'll see pop-up on the page in the near future). I read it last night just before bed, with the intentions of documenting my initial reactions to the issue, but it was too much of a brain buster for me to dissect at that hour so I played some Catan on my phone and called it a night.
So here we are. I'm awake, got some coffee into me, the blind's are up, and I'm ready to start the day right. Revival, for various reasons I'm sure, had a two month gap between the releasing of #5 and #6 (#5 released in November, and #6 in January). I imagine this is because of the trade coming out and Image wanted to recruit as many new readers as possible and give them time to get into the series. Anyhow, I also believe it's because it's sort a new arc. However, this series doesn't really seem to be set up in an "arc-based" type of storyline structure. I can't remember all of the events from the first 5 issues (a LOT happened folks) so there's a chance I'm wrong about this, but just from reading #6, it feels very much like it's still the same story continuing onward (I swear that I read something somewhere that Tim Seeley said that he's writing the book as one massive story arc, so there aren't really any good jumping-on points or places where the current story ends and then a new one begins).
Having read the issue a second time, I'm still not sure I comprehend everything that occurred on the 22 pages. The story begins with a news report on a television screen and it sort of recaps the general premise of the series. We get a tidbit about May Tao and her boss(..?); I'm not really sure who the character "Bogs" is, but I imagine she'll be fleshed out in future issues. May seems to be up to no good, and I can already feel some tension building amongst her relationships/interactions. Then we cut to a scene with a little girl and her grandpa who are attempting a prison break out of Wausau (the main city of the story that's been quarantined because of Revival Day). At the end of that 2-page scene, a new and important looking character is introduced. Nothing is revealed about him save that he's a "national hero." Looks like we'll be seeing more of him soon enough. Following this, we get a sort of pseudo-E.T. scene in which Dana's son Coop is talking about his action figures near a forest to that mysterious ghost/alien thing with the funky name that no one can properly pronounce (it's something like POJ XUUUUTJD...). We find out that Coop is trying to befriend the foreign creature. I felt surprisingly happy while I read this. Am I supposed to be feeling this way, or should I be scared that this alien being could potentially hurt the boy? Regardless, I can't ignore what I felt. This was probably my favourite moment from this issue.
Dana visits the house of the Hines' family, and we're introduced to a couple new characters. An older male detective named Jimmy Heckendorf appears to be some sort of antagonistic foil to Dana. Like most of the new characters introduced in this issue, we only get a vague snippet of their personalities, so nothing much can really be said about them yet. I fear he will try to get in the way of Dana doing the right thing, but I will have to wait and see what becomes of this guy. Dana's partner Ibrahaim Ramin has only a cameo in this issue, in which the two characters share a brief phone call together. Ramin reveals that there will likely be a further quarantine of the revivers themselves. I sensed Dana's discomfort with this idea (since her sister Em is a reviver) and I can only imagine that this will pose a huge problem in the future. Em herself is barely in this issue. The only scene with her is rather bare of any clear ideas/themes for the future of the series, which is obviously done on purpose by Seeley... he's building quite the mystery with all these characters. I imagine Tim has his characters' personalities mapped out somewhere (how could he not? I feel like he'd get lost and confused writing them if he didn't) and, being a cheeky writer that he seems to be, is only choosing to release minute details about them with each new issue. It's actually a brilliant way to bring readers like myself back in each and every month. So much mystery, yet so tantalizing!!!
The issue concludes with two elusive and unclear scenes (what else is new?). I won't say anymore about the story, but I'm definitely itching to find out what happens next. For a book that rarely (if at all) answers any direct questions, I can't say enough great things about it. Thankfully, I'm uber-late in reading/reviewing this issue, so late in fact, that issue #7 comes out tomorrow. The wait won't be so painful afterall...
If you're interested in trying something different and non-superhero/Big 2, I highly recommend picking up this series. It's mystery/horror/sci-fi all rolled into one beautifully crafted package. If you fall towards the squeamish side, than I'd say pass, but if you're anything like me... you should definitely check this out! (What am I like you may ask? Tandem with the series, I must leave you dangling with no clear answer...)
Story: 4
Art: 4
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