Laura Kinney: Sabertooth #2 // Review
Laura has been called in to see her superior. Revelation has something for her. Something that he needs her to do. There are a group of people who are looking to leave his care. They cannot be allowed to do so. To do so would be to enter into a state of danger. And he does not want them to be in a state of danger, even if it means protecting them from the dangers of their own free will. If I said to say, this is going to result in violence in Laura Kinney: Sabertooth #2. Writer Erica Schultz continues her forwway in the Age of Revelation crossover event with artist Valentina Pinti and colorist Rachelle Rosenberg.
It's not exactly an appealing notion for Laura. She doesn't necessarily want to have to do what she's being told to do. But she doesn't exactly have a choice. Those who are looking to leave have a definite way of leaving. There's a portal and everything. So it's not like she's going to have to chase after them. But either they may get through the portal or they don't. And she's going to try to her damnedest to make sure that they don't leave.
There are themes that are echoing across the Age of Revelation event that each title seems to be covering in a slightly different fashion. The idea of protecting people against their own desires is one that plays pretty heavily into this particular dystopian vision. Schultz frames the drama pretty well on her own terms. Laura's personal conflicts and internal struggle place across the page subtly beneath a very dramatic and very aggressive kind of action. It's that action that is the center of everything that's going on in the issue. However, the deeper concerns resting just below the surface are really the most compelling part of the issue.
Pinti and Rosenberg are a bit better with the action than they are with the drama. The dramatic moments of verbal interaction our stage on the page quite well. However, they lack and intensity that seems to be written into the dialogue. This is not a problem with the action based portion of the issue. Violence in aggression, shoot across the page with a compellingly explosive dynamic. It all feels very well executed on so many different levels.
The action might feel a little bit more bound to the page than the drama is on a visual level. But the dramatic ends of the story are a lot more compelling in intellectually. So there's kind of a compromise there that needs to be met. And though it is entertaining from cover to cover, it feels like there's something of a compromise. That's being that that really shouldn't be forced. That being said, it's a totally enjoyable issue. And Schultz is entry into this particular. Crossover event is really well executed. It's a lot of fun. And it's casting insight into the character of Laura in a way that her ex exploits as wolverine wouldn't quite be able to manage in the mainstream Marvel Universe.
