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Welcome to an all new edition of Parlay Points, the comic book review blog to the ODPH Podcast!
For this entry, we’re heading back into a world of danger and mystery via Comixology Originals. When “The Shroud” starts conquering the Earth, life as we know it has been changed forever.
Jo and Canon have adapted to this new world years later. When a sign of hope appears in the form of a black diamond, a world of possibilities opens up. Where does it all lead?
BY A THREAD #3 by SCOTT SNYDER, Jack Snyder, Valeria Favoccia, Whitney Cogar, Tom Napolitano, and Emma Price heads further into adventure and intrigue. Let’s take a closer look, but watch out for the Shroud.
READ LAST ISSUE REVIEW HERE!
*** POSSIBLE SPOILER WARNING ***
The chapter begins at an earlier time of Jo and “The Shroud”. Readers watch the youthful actions of a game of “Spin The Bottle”. In a post-apocalyptic world, it’s a fleeting moment of normalcy. Jo spins and it lands on Charlie, who isn’t there.
Jo finds her contemplating her future as she’s got a chance to join the Mechanic’s guild. Jo offers words of encouragement. When Charlie slips, she falls towards a catching Jo.
In between laughing about the slip, a startling revelation appears. Jo’s arm lands in some of the Shroud. With it quickly moving up Jo’s arm, Charlie makes a choice to save Jo. The cost is high as she takes an axe to his arm.
In the present time, the older group of friends have followed Rowan on this journey. Rowan is the stranger who showed up with the black diamond.
With bright hope behind his selling point, the group camps out twenty miles from their location at a drive-in theatre.
With the break int he action, the conversation goes back to their pre-shroud days. Happiness is short lived as something crashes the party and its’ not happy.
Readers see the party-crasher with action unfolding. The pace picks up as the group fights to survive. he fallout sends the story into uncharted areas as a few revelations appear. The closing moments enter a new dynamic into Jo and his friends’ quest that leaves many questions for next time.
The writing keeps the focus centered on the longing of the pre-shroud days with this latest edition. The moments of “Spin The Bottle” reflect how trying to retain being normal isn’t in the cards.
Jumping to present time, the group’s conversation keeps their time light-hearted until the threat shows up.
At this stage, the pace shifts gears to the threat at hand. The action picks up the issue but leads to a strong closing act.
The writing spaced out Rowan’s secrets enough to give the finale a bigger feel before concluding events.
Favoccia does another fantastic job with bringing this fantasy world to life. The innocence of the kids right after the Shroud wins over readers.
This pays into the striking panel of Jo losing his arm to survive. The threat at hand has very intense visuals stemming from it’ near full page panel debut.
The fallout mirrors the reaction of Rowan’s reveals. Readers instantly can sense the change of the group’s feelings. This plays into a great closing page which makes a big impact on the way out of this latest chapter.
FINAL POINT: 8.5
The journey for the truth is paved with dark intentions in the latest chapter of jo and his friends journey. The team of Scott and Jack Snyder pen a tale of innocence defying danger with solid writing. Favoccia’s artwork continues to shine through the dark landscape of the Shroud. Combined, it’s a winning formula you can’t afford to miss!
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