Violence And Depravity In Sukeban Turbo #4
by Josh Davison
[*Mild Spoilers Ahead!]
Shelby visits Sam to check in on him and to see if she can help him get his life back on track. Sam just assumes Shelby wants his money and writes her off. Meanwhile, Jared is trying to get a party going for his brand, “Funktion,” and Kate suggests letting Shelby DJ for it. Jared agrees. Shelby wants the Sukeban Tribe to join up with a different dealer named Reedo, and she still wants revenge on Jared. Kate doesn’t know this when she asks Shelby to DJ Jared’s party.
Sukeban Turbo #4 rounds out the miniseries with a final and deeper dive into human depravity, as Shelby and Sam find themselves each at points of no return. Sam will do anything to get with Alanis, and Shelby wants to get back at Jared and Kate.
This results in shocking, if unsurprising, eruptions from both individuals, but going into the specifics would, of course, be spoiling the surprise.
It gives a strange degree of closure, even if the comic leaves some things deliberately ambiguous. Sukeban Turbo has been building towards Shelby and Sam doing especially reprehensible things, and it delivers.
This isn’t a book about redemption, starting a new chapter, or even really changing. It’s a book about wallowing in one’s own filth and reaching one’s own darkest depths.
Victor Santos gives one last great treatment to Sukeban Turbo that continues to provide the urban graffiti aesthetic that suits this comic and its characters so well. It’s expressive, descriptive, and unique. The color palette suits the tone and narrative with dirty and grimy colors offset by sparse streaks of vibrant color.
Sukeban Turbo #4 concludes the miniseries with a brilliant display of violence and depravity. Shelby and Sam are corrupt individuals with numerous grievances and frustrations motivating their actions, and we get to see how low each will go. This one gets a recommendation. Check it out.
Sukeban Turbo #4 comes to us from writer Sylvain Kunberg, artist and cover artist Victor Santos, letterer Shawn Lee, and variant cover artist Claire Roe.
