Does this odd but nonetheless continuing odyssey featuring an alternate world history and the four horsemen of the apocalypse still have enough gumption to hold your attention?  Read on to find out.

The official description from Image:

“THE QUEST”

Death begins his great hunt, lines are drawn among the chosen, and the Ranger picks up the scent of his prey.

It’s hard to not pick up this comic book, and find yourself completely absorbed by what your currently thumbing through.  The creative team knows that, and as this issue opens it becomes apparent that, even as it barely moves the narrative forward, they still find a way to shock then entertain.  They use a character that felt like a throwaway addition in order to highlight the ferocity of our antagonists, while giving disturbing deapth to their diabolical cause.

Jonathan Hickman pens the script and the most part he excels by implementing an innate architecture to these chaotic and religiously charged proceedings.  We see a lot of beautifully realized subtext here, as the scribe slowly but surely fills in some gaps in the story.  At this point there are still a lot of questions remaining but even as we get some of those answers the audience is bound to be enthralled.  I did fine the bulk of the outing to be a bit heavy handed at certain moments but in the end it helped sell the final pay off found within the confines of these pages.

The art by Nick Dragotta continues to be a source of splendor among some rather dark ideas.  He handily crafts the world, conveying just enough style and originality to make this series a must follow.  From beginning to end he nails a design that allows detail and beauty with some complicated visualizations.   I’ll be honest it’s hard to picture anyone else doing what he does, especially as we’re all faced with some truly uncomfortable scenarios.

East of West #7 is another expertly crafted piece of fiction, that may not push this journey as far as it needs to but it still earns a recommendation from me.

4/5