Underwinter #5 Review

Under There? Under Where!

Written by: Ray Fawkes
Art by: Ray Fawkes
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: July 26, 2017



We’re back again with a comic that has become a bane to my existence. Although it’s been grating and hard to get through, I’ve taken it on as a book I just refuse to stop reviewing. I have to see this to an end, I need to see what sort of conclusion it works up. Although the last 3 issues have seemingly been the same issue told over and over again, we’ve gotten enough small tidbits that make me think we’re eventually working toward a climax. The only question is if that climax will be better due to this slow buildup or if it will feel as if another drop in the bucket of ongoing fever dream visuals and near empty narrative. Find out what I think of the most recent issue after the jump.

Yet again we seem to be starting off with the group drawing closer to another concert. At this point though, the group seems all but lost. There seems to be no real semblance of their normal day to day life that is starting to fall apart due to this darkness taking them over. At this point they’re far gone and we know that basically right off the bat. We get some glimpses back to the nightmare that we first saw in the first issue, this time though we get the idea that It’s not really a nightmare but more a glimpse of the internal struggle of the musicians.

After this we cut to each musician separately as it further sinks in that these people are lost, some seem to know it, while others seem to just want to escape into the music, but in the end it seems obvious to them that they would continue with the upcoming concert. At which point they meet with the curator or owner of the mansion in which the concerts have been taking place. Before the meeting starts there is a bit of dialogue pointing toward the idea that the musicians wouldn’t normally be aware of their changing, but as the meeting takes a dark turn this dialogue is pretty quickly refuted.

Overall this is by far the best issue of Underwinter to this point. I’m not sure if it’s a fit of Stockholm syndrome or if I’ve just been taken over by this book similar to its subjects. The book seems to have taken a turn and actually going into its conclusion. I still find the art terrible and confusing at most times, but the story seems to actually progress at this point as opposed to regurgitating the same details over and over.

Bits and Pieces:

I think this book has somehow actually possessed me. It’s going slowly and hasn’t completely taken me over, but this issue marks a turn. Where once I hated this book, now I am actually not completely repulsed, and actually look forward to the next issue.

4.5/10