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Writer: Simon Spurrier
Illustrated By: Charlie Adlard
Colored By: Sofie Dogson, Daniel Silva De Carvalho
Lettered by: Jim Campbell
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
When it comes to comics the issues that tend to get the most focus are the first and last issues. It makes sense due to how finite beginnings and endings are in stories. With Damn Them All #11, we see how vital the penultimate issue is as well because it is the key point in the story when everything comes together for the conclusion to take off.
It is the alley to the oop so if it is off just by a hair disaster can occur. The good news here is everything is right on target.
Much of this issue is told in flashback as Ellie recounts to Cillian what brought her to possibly turn on those she seemingly cared for.
Her diatribe in this sums up the essence of her character and much of this series. There’s a soulful anger about human existence in that ever-long search for purpose and meaning. I have made the mistake of summarizing Ellie as a female version of John Constance but it was at this moment I realized she has developed into so much more.
You can tell her words are speaking beyond what is happening in this comic. Art is humanity’s ability to express themselves and ponder the greatest questions.
Sometimes that pondering is an exercise in immense frustrations of the ills of what and who we are. I not only understood those words but profoundly felt them.
For those who try to minimize comics as nothing more than escapism, they are missing out on what is true accomplishment can look like.
I was fascinated with the way Charlie Adlard depicted how Ellie was spiritually broken from the inside and out, and the way in in which she crawled out of the demonic muck once more.
Flashbacks were shown in small black and white horizontal panels to represent the quickness in which they occur.
I loved how the entire structure of the page crumbles down to literal nothingness, only to be slowly built up again through sheer force of will.
We are looking deep into the soul of Ellie and this narrative and both are coming out vastly different on the other side.
There are a multitude of moments within this issue that demonstrate how well in tandem this entire creative team works with one another. Early in the issue, there is a page that on the surface looks rather straightforward.
However, there is an instance of left panel stacking that should make it difficult to follow. There is no issue whatsoever though because of the lettering of Jim Campbell. It guides you from one beat to the next with ease.
It is a small moment of people walking into an elevator but it shows how communicative this team must have been. A creative group that is segmented and simply doing their own thing could royally mess up a sequence like that.
Those sequences have become the norm, which has led to an issue and series that has palpable energy. Switching back and forth between Ellie of the now and Ellie of the recent past gives the sense that something major will drop.
Clinging onto pages waiting for the aha moment as the hero gets up off the mat to land the knockout punch. What if the punch does not come as you expected, or what if the punch comes from an unlikely source? What if there is no winning here?
The way this plays with expectations has me so excited for what is next. Anything is possible.
