Gasolina #4 - Review

Gasolina, you must have seen her

Written by: Sean Mackiewicz
Art by: Niko Walter
Colors by: Matt Lopes
Publisher: Image
Review by: Andrew McAvoy

This is a series that just keeps getting darker and darker.  In the last issue in this series families were being taken by Los Queridos while monsters continued to emerge from the soil. Amalia and Randy have got themselves involved in this whether they wanted to or not. Things are about to get worse. Let's roll.

Gasolina as a series is like watching an ace cards player gradually play his or her hand. Each issue unveils just a little more, and then a little more and you know that it's going to be an amazing pay off in the end. I'm pretty certain from the quality to date that this series is going to be wrapped up wonderfully. At this stage though we can only assess the individual plays as they unfold. What this series excels at is in unfolding just enough to deliver significant reveals, and additional plot elements while leaving you begging for more.

This issue sees the narratives of Amalia and Randy develop separately. Amalia is in the thick of the action, but luckily she's well skilled in the art of automatic machine guns. Randy is in a tight bind, captured but with skills as a doctor he is subject to a waiting game - his use to Los Queridos is assessed. In the interim he learns more about the bugs and how ritual sacrifice is now being used by the gang to appease the strange creatures.

The art in this series is sublime. Equal credit must go to both Walter and Lopes for this achievement. In particular there is a tremendous use of black which delivers the impression of events being observed from the shadows. Just as the story is unveiled very very gradually, so events are portrayed as a partial observation. What we do see is rendered splendidly through a tremendous use of earth tones and blue grays depending on the activity of Randy or Amelia respectively.

Bits and Pieces

This series continues to meet the high standards it set for itself in the opening issues. It doles out just the right amount of action, and combines its reveals with great artwork. A fine example of all the key component parts of a comic complementing each other as intended.

8.5/10