Rob reviews Once Upon A Time In Xanatopia #4...
It's been a few months since I last journeyed into the strange world of Xanatopia. Across the previous three issues, writer DC Horn has introduced us to Nora - a monster-slaying badass whose past is just as mysterious as her present, and future. Now as Nora lies unconscious as a result of her grueling fight with the monster that roams the Statue Field, she's approached by an otherworldly figure.
Is this new character the God it claims to be? Or is it just a figment of Nora's imagination?
Picking up where OUATIX #3 ends, #4 sees Nora in a bit of a predicament. While her body is still within the real world, he mind consciousness is transported to Xanatopia's future. Here Nora finds a world where once gleaming towers have been reduced to rubble, and strange jellyfish-like creatures float across the skies. Before she's got a chance to catch her bearings, Nora's attacked by another being who can utilize light hardening - like herself.
Now finding herself hunted across the city's ruins, Nora not only has to make sense of the Living Stone's riddle but she's also got to come back from this distorted future alive!
Whereas the previous issue dealt with Nora's grief over Cherry, this time the action takes over. As the duo fights across the ruins, David Swanson's art tells the story. There are plenty of well-choreographed scenes as both characters show each other just what they're capable of. Swanson utilizes everything from the action movie playbook to give a sense that while the two characters are evenly matched - they want to hurt each other.
While OUATIX is portrayed primarily within the black & grey style, Swanson utilizes swaths of color to denote the character's use of light. In this universe, light is a weapon, and quite a powerful one too. Here there's plenty of blue, purple, and red as the two characters play out their ballet. It works incredibly well against the muted color and makes the combat more striking. There's also a great moment towards the end of the issue where the colors drain from Nora's face, all under a purple highlight.
Away from the brilliant art and Horn continues to sell his sci-fi fantasy with a great depth of character work. Here he continues to build Nora through her inner monologue as she narrates what's happening on the page. While her spoken dialogue works to convey her feelings, it's these inner thoughts that show the veteran's mindset. Straight from the opening issue, it's clear that while Nora is a bit of a badass, it's a facade that she projects. Deep down and she's a troubled individual that hides her feelings within her work. We saw this as she jumped back into monster slaying after Cherry's death - which has gotten her in the current predicament. It's also this emptiness that comes out in this issue as she finds herself alone against seemingly impossible odds.
Overall and Once Upon A Time In Xanatopia #4 is another superb issue for the series. Even though we still don't know quite how Xanatopia works, DC Horn and David Swanson keep the reader keen with great storytelling and plenty of stunning artwork.
With Nora bearly surviving this "test" and finding out that she's a part of Xanatopia's downfall, just what's going to happen next?
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