The Sacrificers #16 // Review
Rokos the God had never been hit so hard as he is being hit now. It’s a gentle figure who has struck him with.a massive battle axe. A blue bird humanoid named Pigeon. He’s crazy to attack a god, but he hasn’t exactly got anything left ot lose in The Sacrificers #16. Writer Rick Remender and artist Max Fiumara begin to reach a climax as mortal is pitted against god with the fate of so very, very much at stake. Color comes to the page courtesy of Dave McCaig. It’s a remarkably brutal conflict that’s rolling through the issue as aspects of the story hit a booming, crunching crescendo.
It’s not just the mortal who is attacking Rokos. His own daughter has quite a few reasons to be upset with him. And so it’s going to be quite satisfying to beat the hell out of him. Typically a god as powerful as Roos wouldn’t have to worry about this kind of wrath, but he’s NOT having a good day and it just might. be his last if he’s not careful. Of course...he’s got the wisdom of a god an that’s goint og o a long way towards his oen survival as things progress. There’s no questioning that he’s going to be risking his life, but he just might save it.
Remender is more than a little brave to throw a issue length battle into the mix at this stage in the series. It's kind of a crucial moment. And he focused just on one battle is kind of taking a big chance. Not that there aren't some subplot elements that come to view around the periphery of the action. There are. But for the most part, this is a God fighting for his wife.Remender does a pretty good job of framing the action of that intensity as the series reaches a major turning point.
Fiummara focus is much more on the drama of the conflict, then action. The powerful intensity of the situation fails to fully resonate across the page. This is a God who is about to die. Possibly. And there needs to be an overwhelming intensity in that. Fiumara quite nearly captures the full scope of that intensity. However, it doesn't have the kind of impact that it needs on the page. The artist seems to be evolving a little bit too closely to the action to be able to make it work. There needs to be more empty space for all of the action to move through in order for the amenity of the impact to really hammer into the page.
Remender and company do a respectable job of bringing it all together, but it can be very difficult for any creative team to fully capture the intensity of a war between gods and immortals. Or even a battle for that matter. It's difficult to frame it in a way that respects the disparity between mortal and God. Hard to bring that across on the page in a way that feels as interesting as the concept is. It's a really cool idea. It's just not executed with the kind of inspired position that one would need for it to really live up to its potential.
