Eat The Rich #4
Things come to a head for Joey and Astor in Eat The Rich #4, by writer Sarah Gailey, artist Pius Bak, colorist Roman Titov, and letterer Cardinal Rae. Gailey and company deliver another banger of an issue with a great cliffhanger ending.
The entire holiday is tearing Joey and Astor apart. Things get crazy when one of the help decides to retire early, which brings things to a head for everyone. That’s as much of a synopsis as can be given without giving too much away, but it’s a doozy of an issue.
Gailey does a great job of showing just how everything is affecting Joey and Astor. Both of them are suffering from the need to escape the stresses of the vacation. Astor hasn’t started drinking again, as far Joey knows, but he has disappeared and has been smoking more and eating less. Joey is spending a lot of time with Petal, and there’s a cliche moment where they kiss. All of this works, even if it’s kind of expected of the book at this point. Gailey’s not really doing anything unique at this point, but the craftsmanship is there, and it’s all set dressing for what’s to come.
The book indulges in its anti-capitalist leanings during a conversation between Petal and Joey before the whole thing gets blown wide open at the end of the issue. The entire last sequence of the book is a fast-paced thrill ride, for lack of a term. Joey finally takes a stand and reveals why she’s been going along with everything that’s been happening, and then things just get insane from there. The ending is the most fun part of the whole comic because it makes readers wonder how the whole thing will end. While Gailey does a few cliche things throughout the issue, the ending is special and elevates the rest of the chapter.
Bak’s art is wonderful. The moments between Joey and Astor are meant to be tense, and the art gets that across as much as the script does. The art sells the intimacy between Petal and Joey and gets across the white knuckle insanity of the ending. Titov’s colors do a fantastic job of working with the pencils to get the mood across.
Eat The Rich #4 doesn’t do anything special until the end. This is the book’s penultimate issue and ending it this way really makes the whole thing that much better. Where Gailey and company go is anyone’s guess, but it should be fun.