Furious #4 Review

There’s a lot of vigilantes coming to a shop near you, but should pay attention to this one? Read on to find out.

The official description from Dark Horse:

An innocent man is dead because of Furious, and she’s not going to rest—or feel less guilty—until she finds his killer! Returning to the scene of the crime, she takes out her anger on any punk in sight, but is she after justice or just trying to bury her guilt beneath a beating?

When it comes to the superhero genre and comic books its hard to deliver something that feels original. We’ve seen just about every conceivable angle put to the printed page, but somehow this creative team has successfully crafted a compelling rendition that inspires moments that deserve an audience. There’s nuance and strong intent, as the entire package ebbs and flows with consistent substance.

The script by Bryan J. L. Glass takes our protagonist and forces her to face a question that’s been essential to this series from the start: what’s in a name? We’ve all seen costumed players create their own identity via their outfit, but here our main character attempted and ultimately failed to be known as The Beacon. Instead, because of her actions and the media the world knows her as Furious, but buried beneath that subtext might actually be a light toward some kind of resolution. Thanks to the hard work of the author a new name plus some problems are in sight.

Victor Santos handles the visual portion of this equation, and with a chaotic but controlled display the talent effortlessly crafts this violent narrative. Capturing the dilemmas facing Cadence Lark in these opening panels, we see steady line work that perfectly emphasizes the evolution of our reemerging icon. The colors themselves help the affair pop off the page, and when everything combines this whole journey quickly becomes an event that’s certainly worth paying attention to.

Furious #4 presents a complicated world to its audience, while forming a proper hero for our age. It’s a more than solid release that earns a recommendation from me.