Bigger Than Capes

Publisher: Image
Writer: Joe Henderson
Artist: Lee Garbett
Colour Artist: Antonio Fabela
Letterer: Simon Bowland

When we last left Zadie she was dealing with the revelation that her shadow was not her brother. However, we find out this issue that Angela the creepy counsellor was not being entirely honest. There’s government related plotting afoot.

There are a lot of revelations in this issue which really make it zip along. There’s not a wasted page or panel as the new information comes pretty thick and fast. If you thought you knew everything about Zadie’s situation and family this issue reveals that we have only just scratched the surface.

The real focus of this issue is on family. Zadie’s loyalty to her brother, having been built up over the last couple of issues, really shows itself here as she refuses to give up on the shadow she knows is her brother. There’s not a lot of interaction between the two this issue but what there is is darn heartbreaking. Seeing this relationship grow and now be torn apart really gives things a strong emotional core.

Then there’s Zadie’s mother who has been keeping secrets of her own. The flashback we get gives an insight into a character who up until now we’ve been seeing from Zadie’s point of view, as the typical mother character. As it turns out she’s anything but typical.

The revelation there allows Zadie to really bond with her mother in a way she’s not had a chance to before. Zadie’s father gets to play the role of the guy who is the comic relief but also the real support behind his wife and daughter. We’ve seen his support of Zadie before but here we can see how much he supports his family.

The building of the family relationships is great and the key to this issue, but there are a few other plot threads going on that are kept going, if a little on the back burner. Zadie’s teenage drama love life needs to take a backseat for now but it seems like we will pick it up again.

The art is always fun when it comes to the shadows and there’s some new stuff going on here. The tense family dinner has some really good shadow artwork as those shadows reflect the emotions of those involved. We see more of the shadow creatures Zadie creates. The art with the shadows is always effective and this is one of the best examples this issue.

The art within the flashback does the similarly effective for the story. It tells the passage of time and different scenes in a clear way. We get the key moments, the key parts of the flashback story being told to Zadie. It really covers the key parts and some of the choices make it easy for the reader to infer through what is being told, with the implications of it.

There is a lot of interest in terms of characters in this issue. There’s a new resolve to the family by the end and I feel like we are definitely building toward something. I need to know what happens next.