Issue 12 of The Massive is the third and final part of the “Polaris” story arc and by the end it’s anyone’s guess whether The Massive is still out there and if the Kapital will cease to exist entirely.

Official description from DARK HORSE:

When the crew of the Kapital gets trapped in an ice field, Captain Callum Israel ventures out on foot to continue the pursuit of The Massive. He quickly gets lost in the increasingly dangerous weather, and the reality of the risks he’s asked his crew to take fully hits him. When it does, it threatens to break him completely.

Brian Wood’s approach the final chapter in this arc leaves you shaking your head as everything captain Callum Israel has comes to a literal and figurative halt. Israel has lead his sparse crew and ship into an ice field that threatens the very existence of his ship The Kapital in search for the elusive The Massive. We also get to look behind the curtain of Israel’s past and witness the horrors he has been part of and how his obsessive quest is the key to some semblance of redemption. By the end when the captain’s final hope comes crashing down on him we can only sympathize with his despair and can’t fault him for his initial reaction to it.

Wood exhausts the reader through the struggles and apparent futility of the Kapital’s quest. This issue brings you to the brink and crushes the life out of you. Not a pleasant image or feeling but Wood manages to dare you to hang on to the slimiest of hopes while dragging you kicking and screaming. The addition of artist Danijel Zezelj is an abrupt change but not a disappointing one. His lines are thick and harsh with a looseness that adds to the unraveling plot and hope the captain and the crew are suffering. Jordie Bellaire’s colors expertly represent the cold isolation of the present and the burning pain of Callum’s past.

The Massive has been an exercise is patience and hope all of which are rapidly depleting but the story also manages to make you care about those few willing to go literally to the ends of the earth for a belief and purpose. Callum is a man with nothing to lose and you can’t help admire his courage for redemption in the harsh glare of certain failure.

4.5/5