The Sacrificers #17 // Review
Princes Soluna has returned. There is a resplendently jovial atmosphere amongst all in attendance. atmosphere. Her father there's hosting a grand celebration for her return. All seems to be returning. All seems to be getting back to the way it was. And there certainly is a sense of joyousness about the situation. Princess Soluna makes a very big return in The Sacrificers #17. Writer Rick Remender and artist Max Fiumara reach a critical moment in the series with colorist Dave McCaig. There's a steady, primal sense of grand drama about the 17th issue of the series. There is a great degree of power in it.
The wardrobe of mistress is quite pleased to be addressing the princess again. She has been with the family for a great many years. Dressed her parents, even when they wore gowns. There's a bit of an aphorism in the history of the wardrobe. ‘“when a cloth tears, a needlmends. Seams forgive.” Soluna’s mother always told her: “be the needle.” that's precisely what she's looking to do. Now that she's returned. She needs to be a needle. She didn't need to be strong enough to be a needle. This is very important. The faith of everything relies on it.
Remender’s script for the issue feels like shades of echoes of The Masque of the Red Death. It's a choice occasion. But there's darkness around the edges. Uncertain that is something that echoes through the dialogue as everything looks so very opulent amongst gods and magic and things of that nature. It's a slow and steady procession to be inevitable. The entire issue feels like it is marching reliably towards the kind of change that it has become completely unavoidable by this point in the series. It's nice to see it finally reached this point. But it's going to be interesting to see where the author takes it next.
Fiumara keeps the opulence to a striking simplicity. He could've gone very ornate with the architecture and with the fashion. This is, after all, grand celebration for royalty vet essentially our gods. And there is a sense in the design of everything that it really feels like there's room for a grand visual spectacle with this particular issue. The artist holds back just a little bit, though. There's a sense of star simplicity about the power of everything that's being brought to the page.McCaig does a strikingly good job of making sure that everything feels warm and lush and radiant in the midst of it all.
There's more than enough in it to suggested that there is going to be more darkness on the horizon. It's not just a question of heroism. It's a question of a good intention and good intention gone wrong. And it's a question of cycles that might be repeating themselves. The poetic nature of the kind of myth that the creative team is working with here has a real potential to show something very sinister beyond the heroism. And it will be interesting to see exactly how it they ultimately end up, tackling that in the issues to come.
