The Scorched #19 // Review

The Scorched #19 // Review

Senator Terminus kills five people outside of Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. One might ask him what he does for an encore, but this is really more of a pre-show warm-up. Heโ€™s got to go address a whole bunch of his constituents. This is the beginning of The Scorched #19. Writer Sean Lewis and additional scriptwriter Todd McFarlane continue a stroll through the darkness with the aid of artist Stephen Segovia. Color stains the page under the auspices of Ulises Arreola. The action-horror continues to hold some appeal, though it lacks the kind of thematic complexity that would make for a more compelling narrative.

Spawn and Medieval are having an argument in a small home in rural Oregon. Itโ€™s the childhood home of She-Spawn. Sheโ€™s dead. Thereโ€™s a lot of frustration over this. Meanwhile back in Kansas City, Terminus is consolidating his power. Those who failed him have been killed. Someone questions him, and...heโ€™s killed too. Divine punishment is coming to humanity in the form of the blood that it has spilled. And while thereโ€™s no question that She-Spawn is dead, thereโ€™s some question as to what comes next for the Scorched. 

โ€œIf heโ€™s a saint, why does he keep doing things like this?โ€ Itโ€™s the voice of one of Senator Terminusโ€™s supporters. He says this as heโ€™s mopping up blood from the Senatorโ€™s multiple homicide. Thereโ€™s remarkably vivid political satire in this moment, but Lewis and McFarlane wash it away in surface-level interpersonal aggression between the heroes and their antagonists. A U.S. Senator is literally a homicidal demon, but Lewis decides it would be cooler to have heroes arguing and villains taking control of mindless mobs in search of a fight. Thereโ€™s great potential in the premise. Lewis is doing a good job of avoiding it. 

Segovia shows some talent for pushing around the demonic muscle on the page. It looks good. The backgrounds look particularly nice as well, whether theyโ€™re at a major NFL stadium or in the middle of the woods or in the snow as Spawn and company look for the corpse of a fallen co-worker. The monster made of blood looks a LOT less silly than it could have. Arreola does a particularly good job with blood on the page, whether itโ€™s in animated demonic form or...just a stain in the background. The coloristโ€™s sense of depth and drama is a perfect match for Segoviaโ€™s. Given the right angles, the blood beast could actually look pretty cool when it comes into contact with the Scorched in the near future. Itโ€™s just too bad that there isnโ€™t more behind the visuals.

Thereโ€™s real potential in the premise behind the Scorched. The overall premise echoes some admirable reflections of Chris Claremont and H.P. Lovecraft and a few other really influential writers. The visuals have an undeniable power that shoots across the page. All of the right elements are clearly there. They just arenโ€™t on the page in a way that feels at all interesting. 

Grade: C





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