Vanish #8 // Review
Astrum’s face is spattered with blood when he mentions this magnolia tree from his childhood. He’s just done some unspeakably savage things to those who were attacking him. And he’s remembering this tree from his childhood. It was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. He’s wearing a skull from some large animal as he says this. It’s all part of the fun in Vanish #8. Writer/artist Ryan Stegman and writer Donny Cates continue their dark fantasy tale of blood and magic with the aid of artist V. Ken Marion. Color comes to the page courtesy of Sonia Oback.
There’s going to be a showdown. Oliver has no other choice. He’s going to have to face Astrum. The horror of murder is going to be just as unspeakable as the horror of dying at his hands, but there’s no other option at this stage. He’s far too gone to reach him anymore. Oliver will face Astrum in flames. He will be touched with madness and spattered with blood. Thankfully, he won’t have to face Astrum alone. There’s at least one other who will stand with him against the overwhelming brutality of Astrum. He might just stand a chance after all.
Cates and Stegman have reached the climax of this particular story arc. There are moments of vague poetry in and amidst the prose of the dialogue, but there really isn’t much going on. They needed to allow the artist plenty of room to let the crazy blood flow. They needed the space and time to allow the magic to occasionally crackle across the page. Cates and Stegman had been working up to this for quite some time. It ends relatively predictably, but that doesn’t mean that the final issue of the current plot arc doesn’t have some impact.
Stegman and Marion let the savagery wash over the page for much of the eighth issue. There is SOME contrast to the savagery as there are moments that reveal a bit more about Oliver. The overall arc of the eighth issue has enough visual appeal in grinning blood and crackling magic that it could easily stand on its own as a one-shot. There are a lot of people working on the eighth issue, but as it all leans so heavily on the visuals, the colorist might be the single most important member of the creative team for the eighth issue. All the detail on the page would be pretty indecipherable without Oback’s gorgeous colors.
The force of the impact across page and panel is kind of impressive. The story that has been delivered over the course of the first eight issues is fun, but it wouldn’t be enough to justify its existence alone without the impact of the visual reality of Vanish, which isn’t enough to make it work as a complete narrative. So much of the basic premise of the plot is a fusion of various cliches. The first eight issues have been fun, but they haven’t amounted to much.
