Part two of the “Polaris” story arc has the crew of the Kapital ravaged and now they are faced with a new danger from mother nature. Find out if Captain Israel’s mission still worth the losses he must endure.

Official description from DARK HORSE:

Following a mutiny, the crew of the Kapital are in a race against time to catch their increasingly elusive sister ship, The Massive, when a school of aggressive great white sharks cross their path!

Writer Brian Wood continues to do great work for Dark Horse and The Massive is proof positive. Last issue the majority of Cal Israel’s crew abandoned the ship and the mission to find The Massive. Only a handful are standing by his side and at this point it truly starts to feel like a lost cause. Cal has nothing to lose anymore as his battle with cancer progresses and he is the kind of leader that will go down with his ship. Resources, hope and morale are wearing thin and Cal sends up his only helicopter in a last ditch effort to get a visual on The Massive. Mary chooses to go on the flight in the slim hope this isn’t another wasted effort. By the end the crew will lose more than it can afford.

Wood creates a real sense of doom for this mission and the slow reveal to the remaining crew of Cal’s condition is painful and heartbreaking. Wood returns some of the focus back on the environmental disaster and how it has affected and mutated a whole species of shark. It puts a new danger in the way for the Kapital but Mary shows an unconventional way of dealing with it which is a nice show of compassion and understanding. Artist Declan Shalvey takes over art duties and it’s a smooth transition. He is a great fit for the book and he maintains nice detail and flow. He also draws one nasty looking shark!

The Massive continues to be heartbreaking and while it is dwindling rapidly hope still looms somewhere out there with Cal and his crew. If you enjoying rooting for the seemingly doomed, Wood gives you a book and a cast worth cheering.

4.5/5