In The End, There Is Only The Center: Reviewing ‘Gideon Falls’ #25

“Wicked Worlds,” part four. The Bishop will finally reveal the secrets of the Multiverse to Angela…IF she can survive long enough to hear them!

Oh, man. Gideon Falls #25 is one of those chapters that is really hard to discuss without spoiling. I’ll do my best. In this month’s installment, the story focuses on Bishop Burke and Angela. The Bishop lays some serious knowledge on Angela, right before they get interrupted by the Thinkpol and a horde of those smiling zombie buggers. There. Vague enough? 
As slowly and deliberately as this sucker has been burning, I am almost 100% certain that within the next two chapters, the whole thing is going to blow wide open. 
Jeff Lemire’s scripts have been brilliant. He’s let out just enough line to let readers think they have a handle on the situation, then jerked the rod and yanked them back in a completely different direction. Over and over again. So many twists and turns, nothing made any damned sense. Until now. Sort of. Still loads to work out, but with just the two issues remaining, the light is there. 
 

Andrea Sorrentino and Dave Stewart consistently deliver some of the most dynamic artwork in comics. Gideon Falls’ art is so married to the script, it’s nearly impossible to imagine one without the other. Feels really redundant to say these dudes are absolutely annihilating the artwork, but here we are.
Last chapter, Sorrentino played it pretty straight, but he’s back at it with the non-linear visual storytelling. Panels within panels, torque and twisted borders, unique angles and insanely detailed backgrounds. Stewart’s palette ties multiple dimensions and timelines together, while keeping their distinct identities separate.
This antepenultimate chapter sets up the final act beautifully. All the layers, the visions and voices, the fractured dimensions, they’re about to finally (maybe) converge. Probably.

Gideon Falls #25, Image Comics, 23 September 2020. Created by Jeff Lemire (script) and Andrea Sorrentino (art), colors by Dave Stewart, letters/design by Steve Wands, variant cover by Francesco Francavilla.