Revival #5 Review

Revival continues, blurring the unknown, the supernatural and the plain weird into small, American town life. So far its been successful, but there are ups and downs throughout Revival #5.

The official description from Image:

Em is going to need her ability to NOT DIE to save May Tao from Blaine’s garage. But something lurks in the forest nearby, and it wants IN.

Where as the previous issues where rather disjointed, jumping from point to point, this issue brings parts of these together, mainly focusing on one segment. This, of course, is from the previous issue, with May being held hostage (the crucifixion position and religious themes weren’t lost either) by Blaine Abel. Whilst this makes the story more coherent, it does also highlight some unusual writing.

My complaint here is the change of character on Mr. Abel. I liked the juxtaposition between very friendly and deadly serious, shown in previous issues. Yet here he spends a great deal of time by himself running around and shouting out to Satan in a forest. It, quite frankly, makes him seem like a mad man. He also makes strong references to demons and possession; something his first appearance strongly suggested he didn’t believe in. That said, it does suggest a more interesting back story; one that should hopefully be shown later.

Aside from this, the Alien/Ghost/Monster makes a stronger appearance, with greater clues as to what it is. This is important, as its been 5 issues; it helps that the writers know when to tease the tiniest bits of information out. Its appearances here will certainly get many thinking.

As for the rest of the story, the additional characters only feature in a few panels or more, mostly doing mundane things. Dana herself takes a back seat for this issue, as its a welcome change; her personal story never seems as closely tied to the whole “revival” background as the others.

Yet there is also a strong suggestion of additional plots forming. Its early days yet, but it sometimes feels as if Revival has its hands full at the moment, in such a way that additional plots are going to take away from the original aspect of the series.

In short, whilst it is a bit of a mixed bag, Revival #5 is still worth a read. The main story gets more and more interesting as the puzzle slowly unravels.