Bigger Than Capes

Publisher: Ahoy Comics!
Writer: Alisa Kwitney
Artist: Mauricet
Letterer: Rob Steen

This issue of G.I.L.T. is really hard to review in the best way. It’s just so good that I fear most of this review will just be me heaping praise on the writing, art, lettering, everything really. There’s not one aspect of this issue that isn’t, you know, really good. I just enjoyed it quite a lot. So if you don’t want to read me recapping and praising every aspect of this issue then just take my advice and go forth and read it. Those who wish to read my praise, please continue.

The various threads start to coalesce together this issue. What I love is that little things from earlier issues tie so neatly back to the present. Or the past. Or the future. Whatever time period we’re talking about it all connects and its just so satisfying to see the payoffs happen. It also made me want to go back and read every issue to this point which is no bad thing. Characters you have seen in previous issues crop up again and it all just slots together like a well oiled jigsaw (I apologise of the metaphors I’m trying to find interesting ways to say it’s really good and the plotting is just sublime when it comes to the way these characters appear).

There’s a lot happens this issue Hildy has a very dramatic confrontation with Vera as she (Hildy) hangs off the side of a helicopter. This was a very emotional conversation as Hildy has needed to know why she and Vera drifted apart. I am not going ti spoil it but it does have time loop implications. Vera did what she did only because of what Hildy told her when she time travelled and revealed what was going on to her friends in 1973. It’s all linked in.

I also really loved the art of Hildy hanging off the helicopter. For starters the helicopter look really good but also the scene is full of tension because, well, Hildy is hanging of the side of a helicopter. Movement in comic art is not always easy but you can appreciate the helicopter blades spinning, the fact Hildy and Vera are having this conversation in the air with the wind ripping around. There is tension in both the conversation and the physical portrayal. It’s when art and writing work so well together to make a memorable scene.

Elsewhere Trista and Wynn are left with Edwin who took a blow last issue. That has some big implications this time. Again I don’t want to spoil plot but I will say that the art in the panels where something happens to Edwin is rather good and nicely horrific (I shall not spoil anything else). Trista also finds that’s her past and present are coming to a head. It’s just so neat to see how it all links in. Once more we see the apartment which triggered all this. his time it’s 1973 and the décor is just so perfectly 1973. The level of detail is just excellent from the lamps to the wall art to the typewriter. So good.

Toward the end of the issue there are two different timelines in 1973 and 2017, as our characters are at a crossroads, and the contrast and similarity between the two – 1973 and 2017 is just so wonderfully done. There are side by side comparisons on the panels and they are just excellent. Each one instantly recognisable of the period and the parallels in the position of the characters and the words they are speaking is just perfect. I love how there are complex idea about time and fate and choice all woven throughout the issue but it just unfolds in a way that makes sense.

There’s also the Pan-Am plane displaced from 1973. It’s still being chased by military planes and is still crashing. I especially liked the reference to the miracle on the Hudson (A+ for that reference alone). I feel like there’s going to be an interesting conclusion to the plane situation. It also has some great classic plane disaster movie moments. the injured pilot, the stewardess flying the plane, the plane not responding and an imminent threat yet it balances the humour and peril perfectly. The well drawn art helps here too just as it does with the helicopter scene.

I could go on and on about how good this is. That the pacing is just so good. That the art is so detailed and fun. I won’t though. All I will say is that this issue of G.I.L.T. is well worth your time whatever time period you are currently in. It’s got strong writing, great art and solid lettering. Honestly, as I said at the start, I cannot find fault with this. The hard thing is stopping myself gushing too much but you know what? It’s justified. Wonderful stuff.