Rogue Sun #14 // Review
Marcus Bell is looking more than a little bit disheveled. He’s trapped in the sun stone, and he’s trying to help this kid named Dylan Siegel with this little problem he has...of being trapped inside the sun stone. There’s a lot of explanation that’s going to need to happen before the two of them get attacked in Rogue Sun #14. Writer Ryan Parrott and artist Marco Renna continue a story with colorist Natália Marques. The story continues an interpersonal drama that alternates with solid superhero slugfest in another issue firmly set in the Image Comics Superhero Universe.
Dylan knows that he has to solve some sort of elaborate riddle. Or maybe he has to reveal some sort of deep, dark secret about himself. He’s seen enough movies to know that he’s not PERMANENTLY trapped inside the sun stone. He’s just got to work his way out of it. He’s not going to find anything by walking really far in any direction. He’s only going to find more fields...that is, of course, until he finds the powerful, flaming armored entity who wants to take him off to Valhalla. THAT is going to be a bit of a problem.
The drama feels a little sluggish. The life surrounding Dylan back home in the world beyond the stone isn’t nearly as interesting as what he and Marcus are facing in the central conflict of the story. Parrott is working on a number of subplots that all extend the story in various directions, but none of them feel particularly engaging. Parrott clearly has a very solid sense of storytelling as the plot is sprawling in a whole bunch of different directions, but he’s not really hitting any of them at a particularly compelling note. Everyone in the extended ensemble seems interesting enough. Parrott simply isn’t hitting the right moment with any of them.
Renna does an admirable job of selling the visual mood and tone of the more verbally-based drama aspects of the story, but those moments still drag a bit in comparison to the more active moments between Dylan, Marcus, and the threat that they are quickly confronted with. The physical action is clearly and competently brought to the page and feels pretty dynamic, but it doesn’t strike with the kind of intensity that it needs to really feel the power of what’s going on. The world inside the sun stone doesn’t feel nearly as otherworldly as it could have come across.
The issue manages some level of fun, but Dylan and Renna aren’t quite hitting the script or visuals in a way that feels particularly memorable. There are a lot of angles on the story that feel more or less interesting, but they’re not quite hitting the page in a way that feels dynamic enough to really make much of an impression. It would have been very cool if things had been managed in the right way. Dylan and Renna clearly know what they’re doing. There’s little doubt that the series is going to find its footing again in the near future.
