Queen In Black #4- The Best Laid Plans.

In Queen In Black #4, Earth is on the brink. Knull and Hela of Asgard, the new Queen in Black, fight for control of the planet. As they set their sights on the planet, Earth’s defenders rise up to try to save everyone. With the Defenders of Light and Dark struggling, they’re forced to move on to Plan B. With Black Cat recovering something that could turn the tide of the battle, can Earth’s heroes overcome both Hela and Knull and save the planet they love?

This review is brought to you by Nerd Initiative’s Eda and Shawn!

Creative Team

Writer: Al Ewing
Artist: Paco Medina and Iban Coello
Color Artist: Guru-eFX
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Cover Artist: Ryan Stegman
Cover Color Artist: Frank Martin

Writing

Eda: If you thought the last issue was phenomenal, you ain’t seen nothing yet! Writer Al Ewing continues to one up himself issue by issue and the ending here will leave your jaw on the floor. One thing in particular that I absolutely loved was his inclusion of things happening from the other issues up until this point. If you’ve found it difficult to keep up, this issue does a great job telling you what you need to know while pushing the story forward. There’s this balance that carries throughout and at no point does it feel like too much. Not only that, but it’s all done in a way that’s super easy to follow, while remaining highly exciting for even those who’ve read every issue. This is something that’s hard for most writers to pull off, yet Ewing makes it look easy.

Shawn: Al Ewing had something to say about this issue, and man, did he come right out with it. This issue was phenomenal. Beyond the phenomenal story, I really loved that Ewing gave the art team a chance to play in the sandbox, especially with Storm and Logan’s reality-changing situation. For yet another issue, Ewing perfectly moves the lens from team to team. He allows you to see the full scale of this attack from Knull and Hela, showing that it really does take an all-hands-on-deck approach to stop two powerful beings from making the Earth their own.

In addition to showing the various teams, Ewing used this penultimate issue to bring in some new familiar faces, and they couldn’t have arrived at a better time. It was so satisfying to review this event with the lovely Eda to finally see some of the threads woven throughout the story start to come together and resolve. Ewing puts enough into this story to make the issue an interesting and fun read while keeping your eyes firmly on the resolution in issue #5.

Art

Eda: Within this issue, the penciling expertly varies between Iban Coello & Paco Medina. They seemingly took a page out of Peach Momoko’s book, as Wolverine & Storm continue going diving through universes, changing art styles in the process.

When it comes to the different settings, each seems very intimately drawn, like they’re trying to perfectly capture each one. This also comes across in Guru’s use of color, making each scene pop off the page. This especially comes through the fights, making them loud, bombastic and gorgeous to enjoy.

As for the lettering from Cowles, you can tell just how much work went into making easy yet fun to read. The dialogue bubbles are almost characters of their own, perfectly matching the ones they’re coming from. The word choices for the onomatopoeia were also perfectly done, making several scenes feel fiery and electric.

Shawn: I loved that the universe dive continued for Logan and Storm, allowing Iban Coello and Paco Medina to play around with various styles. It’s really impressive how Medina and Coello make each team’s setting feel distinct and unique. As the reader moves through the updates for the various teams, it’s the work of Medina and Coello that really help to sell the changing lens as it were and draw you into the story.

Clayton Cowles helps the story flow easily, and the action packed issue gives him plenty of chances to craft some awesome special effects. Guru-eFX does a really great job with colors on this issue. I was particularly impressed with the battle between Fireborn and Johnny Storm. When you have two fire-based characters, it can be difficult to make them distinct, but Guru does that beautifully.

Final Thoughts

Eda: 9/10. Ewing and his crew are churning out one of the best events of this year. This deep in, things continue ramping up for “Queen in Black,” and after that jaw-dropping ending, I’m anxious for where this will end!

Shawn: 9/10. What a massively satisfying issue. Typical Reed Richards, but goodness, what an ending. I can’t wait to see how Ewing and the rest of this creative team wrap up this story.

Overall Grade: 9/10

What did you think of the issue? Let us know in the comments