Feral #20 // Review
Elsie has left the Pet City Superstore. She’s on her own in the night. Theoretically that makes her safer than anyone inside. The food and shelter available in the store has made a mess of things while also keeping all of the cats safe. There’s something sinister in the shadows, though. Cats have been turning-up dead. Safety falters in Feral #20. Writer Tony Fleecs continues a cat-based epic with the art team of Trish Forstner and Tone Rodriguez. Color comes to the page courtesy of Brad Simpson. As stated earlier, things take a major turn this issue that might have felt inevitable in hindsight.
Lucky has been having a remarkably difficult time kee[ing everything together. Threats that have been everywhere are starting to become more and more apparent to the general population of Pet City. Now that various things are out in the open, the population of the store is a bit uneasy with his leadership. There are bigger threats outside of the walls of the store that just might turn into something truly awful for everyone concerned. Elsie arrives back at the store having come through a skylight. Lucky tells her she’s not welcome, but she has a harsh warning for everyone because of what she’s seen outside.
Fleecs takes the rulership of Lucky in to Macbeth Act 3 territory as things REALLY begin to unravel. This makes the big stinger at the end of the issue feel that much more intense. It feels like things would have needed to move a bit more into their spiral of chaotic decay before they make the major turn that they do in the final pages of the issues. As everything comes to a close in the final pages, it feels more or less perfectly paced. Fleecs clearly knows what he’s doing.
Forstner and Rodriguez take the issue in some pretty dark places. There’s a tremendous amount of balance that needs to be maintained in order for Fleecs’ script to have the kind of impact that it needs to have. The horrors being unleashed on the page find a place somewhere between shock and subtlety. They’re never exaggerated to a point where they look totally unrealistic. Simpson’s colors hit with an impact that coats the page with moody unrest. The action that explodes off the page has quite a punch. in the presence of darker. That punch is given more impact in the presence of the subtly moody visual energies that haunt the issue’s earlier pages.
The current plot arc had played-out pretty well. It seems as though we’re saying good-bye to Pet City. It was a really interesting moment for the serial that seemed like a natural climax to the plot in so many ways. It’s going to be interesting to see where Fleecs and company take the story with the latest development. There’s a lot that could happen in light of the current situation. Fleecs and company have been good with the pacing of the serial thus far. They’re entering dangerous territory with the latest developments that could see the series take a turn for the worse. This issue, though? It’s good.
