It’s the penultimate issue of this three-part story arc, but should you care?  Read on to find out.

The official description from Image:

“PHANTOMS OF THE HEART”, PART 2

Dr. Rachel Harrison will be forced to answer the question that all Artifact bearers before her have been challenged with – will she accept her mantle or reject it? The wrong answer may have a deadly cost for Rapture bearer Tom Judge and his partner Tilly Grimes.

What do you do when you start seeing ghosts and people’s auras?  For new Artifact wielder Dr. Rachel Harrison, you run away from New York and go home.  And that right there is the basic fun of this latest issue, as the creative team takes their established cliffhanger from the previous release and they throw it away.  In its place they embrace a completely different tone as another location in the Top Cow universe in explored.

Ron Marz delivers a decidedly different script this month as the longtime Top Cow architect continues to delve into the mysterious Heatstone.  We’re given a narrative that offers some rather deep thoughts with some personal questions as the story focuses in on Dr. Rachel Harrison‘s new life.  From the dialogue to the closing cliffhanger, the latest part of this arc feels both natural and real.  If I had any gripe whatsoever with the script, it would be that it’s a bit too hefty especially considering that not much action happens before the closing page.

Stjepan Sejic once again does a superb job on the art.  Giving life and layers to a gorgeously painted world, while yielding some truly interesting panel designs.  One simple but cleverly executed kinetic sequence comes to mind, as Ron Marz sets-up a simple joke that could have easily fallen flat on its face if not for the his longtime collaborator hitting necessary visuals out of the park.

Artifacts #20 is another successful release in this phenomenal series.  Recommended.

4/5