Lost Falls #4
ComiXology Originals 2021
Written by Curt Pires
Illustrated by Pierluigi Minotti
Coloured by Lee Loughridge
Lettered by Micah Myers
Pynchon descends into the falls, in order to save Daisy, and heal wounds as old as man.
We’ve been on this weird journey with Pynchon for a few issues now and finally it would seem that things are coalescing into something much larger and more defined. It is nice to finally see and learn more about this place and where exactly it is and why he doesn’t remember how he arrived there to begin with. Much of my interest in this story has lain in that we’ve had no clear reason why anything was happening to these folks and it was all one big enigma. While we don’t have specifics we do start to get answers and while yes these answers raise more questions I am beginning to detect a larger picture and it’s freakin sensational! What Curt has been doing here is nothing short of genius in how he’s managed to capture the readers’ attention and get them involved, invested and engaged in what’s happening here. I feel like that by going behind the waterfall in a way is like seeing the man behind the curtain in Oz and learning that nothing is what it seems and everything you’ve been led to believe is a lie. Can I add that it’s freakin glorious too.
I’m very much a fan of the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information are presented exceedingly well. The character development that we see through the narration, the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter does a bang up job on spotlighting these ever changing personalities. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing more of the story, the revelations and its twists and turns we are treated with this ouroboros of information and questions.
I’m impressed with the way that we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen. I like seeing how the layers open up new avenues to be explored and how these add so much depth, dimension and complexity to the story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is impeccably achieved.
I’m liking the interior artwork here, while it's not normally what I gravitate towards. I have to say that I really like this distinct style and how it generates the mood, tone and feel of the story. The linework is bold and daring and with its varying weights creating the detail we see within the work is well conceived. We see some nice use of backgrounds, could be that we see more but, to enhance and expand the moments, they also work nicely within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show an extremely talented eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows a great understanding of how colour works.
This certainly goes in a direction that I sure as heck wouldn’t have thought of in a million years and I think that’s part of the reason that this issue sticks with me so fully. That we are shown what we are and that it resonates in such a way that your mind goes off page to think, assess and speculate on what we see just demonstrates what Curt is capable of doing with his work. The writing here is sharp, intelligent and unexpected while the characterisation is fun and interesting and it’s all wrapped up and brought to life by these unique interiors. ComiXology has truly emerged as a force to be reckoned with in the industry for it’s bold daring reads like this one.
