Warlock: Rebirth #4 // Review
Spider-Man and Daredevil are hanging out on the side of a building in Manhattan. They look over in the direction of Greenwich Village and see Dr. Strange’s place lighting up. They know well enough to stay away. Strange is more than capable of handling his own problems, right? The answer comes to the comics page in Warlock: Rebirth #4. Writer Ron Marz continues the cosmic-level action in an issue rendered by penciler Ron Lim, inker Don Ho, and colorist Romulo Fajardo Jr. Marz’s 1990s Marvel Universe continues to feel exceedingly comfortable in a story featuring a powerful clash between a legend and a mystery.
Pip delivers the news to Doctor Strange. Adam Warlock was battling the mysterious Eve when they both disappeared without a trace. Strange thought that it was a problem that Warlock could handle on his own, but clearly, he misjudged the situation. Now, he has to go in search of a very powerful hero. As it turns out, he and Eve ended up in the Soul World. It should be his home turf. It should be easy for him to handle. There’s something about her, though. She has a hell of a lot of power. Defeating her isn’t going to be easy.
Marz is marching forward with the conflict in a very serious and straightforward manner. There isn't a whole lot going on here that necessarily feels all that new. Adam Warlock is up against the ropes. Friends come in to aid him. And then things get complicated. Theoretically, this might have been a good place to end the series. However, there is more story to be told. As cool as it is to see Eve Warlock in all her power as a major villain, there simply isn’t enough time spent in her mind to keep her interesting throughout the issue. The mystery of her existence is intriguing, but without a deeper look at who she is, she’s just kind of a stock villain.
Lim’s art style fits the 1990s era of the story almost perfectly. His work for the series has felt reminiscent of his run on Silver Surfer from the early 1990s. It’s beautiful stuff that feels era-perfect. The action is perfectly paired with the story as combat hits the page. The deeper emotional moments have a kind of weight to them as well. Without deeper drama, it all feels more than a bit flat on the page...even when Adam and Eve are in the heat of combat, there’s something missing in the intensity, as there hasn’t been enough time to explore them outside of the confines of their very physical conflict.
Lim had done a lot of work over the years. It’s possible that some of his most captivating work was with Jim Starlin on The Thanos Quest. That series had an intensity to it that came from far more than the mere physical conflict that Marz is bringing to the page here. If there was a bit more of an emotional component to the conflict, this would be a powerful “rebirth” and not just a weird...reanimation of old, dead narrative matter.
