In Bloom #4 – Secrets & Hallucinations

Detective Cole uncovers the truth by writer Michael Conrad, letterer Pat Brosseau and artists John Pearson & Lola Bonato from BOOM! Studios.

PREVIOUSLY IN BLOOM #3

Since we didn’t provide you with a review on the last issue, allow me to give you a quick recap of what just happened on ‘In Bloom #3‘. Before the story progressed, there was a flashback scene. Detective Cole Spears was at the doctor’s office. Where he received an explanation as to why he was unable to Bloom. Turns out, Cole had cancer. The doctor had no words of consolation for Cole. Instead, he encouraged him to volunteer for the Upcycler, the factory that turned humans into fertilizer.

AVA SPEARS

Cole’s wife Ava was not present for this news. She was already bloomed and was all in with the progress being made for people like her. So, to avoid that awkward moment, Cole decided to not bring her to the doctor’s.

THE LOTUS

While following a couple of suspects, Detective Spears encountered a hideout for the Lotus. There was no welcome wagon for Cole. They beat and dragged Cole inside the building. A familiar face greeted the detective. It was his old doctor. Now, he went by the Winnower. I can only speculate what his role was in the Lotus. But if I can make an assumption, I he was performing some sort of inspections for the Lotus. As you can imagine, this was all sorts of terrifying. Beginning with the fact that Cole was never a fan of this doctor. Nor he liked the concept of the Upcycler. He always saw it as inhumane and illegal.

THE BIG SECRET

After the introduction and pleasantries, the conversation took a horrific turn. Cole was exposed to the ‘Mycelium‘, the original fungi that took a foothold of humans at the beginning of time. If the visions are real, the Mycelium isn’t just blooming humans in any sort of accidental evolution. It’s also sentient and this is the second time in history that humanity has bloomed. These were not the words of the Winnower, this was shown and stated by the Mycelium itself. Ultimately, this implies many things. One of them being that the Mycelium is choosing who to bloom. Hence why Cole as a cancer patient is unable to bloom. Because the Mycelium would not choose his sickly body as a host.

*SPOILERS FOR ISSUE #4*

FROM SOLICITATION:

“Spears fights his way through an onslaught of BLOOM-affected freaks to make it through the spore haze and delve deeper into The Lotus warehouse… But can he survive the last effects of the injection and the paralyzing delusions of his past to discover the truth that lies beneath?”

POLLACK WITH THE SAVE

Finally, Detective Pollack arrived just in the nick of time to save him. Pollack heard what the Winnower had to say, but it didn’t matter, she shot him multiple times and killed him for coming after her. Things only escalated from there. But before they did, there was an intermission of sorts. The two men who beat up Cole were distracted watching reality TV. Instead of keeping their eyes on the security footage, they were entertained with the drama of this “Big Brother” kind of show.

HIGH ESCAPE

That allowed Pollack and Spears to make a run for it. But there was just one problem, Spears was high on spores. Not only Cole had a head injury, but he was also hallucinating because of the spores. On the other hand, Pollock was unaffected. On their way out they encounter more Lotus goons. That was when all sanity when out the window. Cole’s hallucinations combined with his PTSD transformed him into a blood thirsty animal. During the craziness Spears and Pollack got separated.

COLE IS LOSING IT

Unfortunately, I won’t go into further spoilers. However, I will say the climax of this issue is not Cole’s murder spree. Rather where the hallucinations took him, a dark path to old memories. But more importantly, a dark path to the truth of it all. The story and the characters have been hinting at this reveal since the last issue at least.

HOW ABOUT THE ART?

Pearson and Bonatu are drawing inspiration from your worst nightmares. There’s two moments where the art style changes to match the subtheme of the story. When the goons are looking at the reality TV show, the art is softer and more palatable. This goes perfectly along with the normalization of blooming to your everyday joe. Then, the second change comes during Cole’s hallucinating murdering state. The fact that it turned into an old school video game, just screams lunacy. And that’s how I imagine what a war veteran with PTSD hallucinations would be like.

OVERALL RATING: 9.8/10

Michale Conrad just threw another wrinkle into the make up of this world. While I was trying to keep up with everything that’s been laid out so far, I found myself taken aback by the latest development. Even though this is, by all intents and purposes, a horror thriller suspenseful story. When you zoom in on the character of Detective Cole Spears, this might as well be considered a tragedy. That’s how complex this series really is. Beyond the scary visuals and the chaotic aspect of the state of the world, this is a story of a man fighting for what’s left of his humanity.

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