Phantom Road #4 // Review
Dom and Birdie are on the road. It’s been a long, long haul through nowhere, and it’s only going to get worse. Agent Weaver isn’t having a whole lot of luck either. Her superiors are fairly certain that she isn’t being entirely truthful with them. That’s life in the weird. That’s life on Phantom Road #4. Writer Jeff Lemire continues a strangely compelling journey with artist Gabriel H. Walta. Deliciously drab color fuses itself to page and panel courtesy of Jordie Bellaire. There’s a kind of static restlessness in an issue that sprawls out in a lengthy action sequence punctuated by revelation and preceded by a bit of drama.
Agent Weaver has missed like...12 calls from Pike. There are a few texts, too. No answer at Pike’s number, though. Then, there’s a call from Deputy Director Wallis that could have gone a lot better than it did. Elsewhere, Dom is waking up in the sleeper cab. There’s a big mob of zombie creatures in the rearview. The natural instinct would be to step on the gas and put some distance between the semi and the mob. There’s a catch, though: Birdie’s in the trailer scared out of her mind. Dom’s going to have to go back there to get her while the zombie things continue their approach.
Lemire tackles the drama with a solid sense of mystery. So much is revealed without any dialogue at all. The dialogue between Weaver and her superior says a LOT more outside of the dialogue than anything being said between the two characters. For the bulk of the issue, Lemire sets up a very simple horror action situation and lets it play out in clever motions and emotions that feel like classic horror in the middle of a dry and arid summer’s day. Punctuate it with a little more information about what’s in the back of the truck and garnish it with a bit of weirdness with the bear. That’s an issue. And it’s a fun one.
And it wouldn’t be anywhere near as fun if it weren’t for the art team. Really. The sequence in the desert with the zombie creatures is a masterpiece of composition and perspective. Walta delivers this massive wide-open feeling of desolation that’s accompanied by a slowly-moving mob of zombie-like creatures. The movement across the page is disturbingly glacial as the creatures begin their assault. Bellaire could have decided to get really, really vivid with the color, but it would have totally ruined the pale desiccation of the situation. There’s a whole lot of light, and it’s all so dry out there...Bellaire is wise to let it feel pale and lifeless as the zombies approach in the middle of the day. No
garish enhancement of color necessary.
Lemire is incredibly patient with the story. There’s clearly A LOT going on in Phantom Road that doesn’t meet the surface of the panel, but he’s allowing it to slowly reveal itself over time. And he’s letting it happen without any kind of narration. The story will get where it’s going in time. Just let the readers enjoy the disturbingly slow weirdness of it all. It’s a good time.
