Review: The Siren Makes Her Final Move In ‘Sea Of Sorrows’ #5

This is it! The Siren makes her final move. There’s a last-man-standing melee on board the Vagabond. Bullets and fists and gaff hooks fly as Nick is forced to make the decision of his life. Meanwhile, a violent storm threatens to send the ship and her crew to Davy Jones’ locker. It’s hard to tell what’s the biggest threat in all the chaos.

Sea of Sorrows #5 is such a great blowoff to an amazing series. Richard Douek has set all these pins up so masterfully, it is a thing of beauty to watch them fall. The pacing has been perfect. Characters are whole and flawed and broken. Everyone’s issues with the assignment, and each other, and their personal histories, it all just builds so naturally to this point that even though you know exactly what’s coming, it’s still shocking when the music hits.

Alex Cormack’s art has evolved right along with the script. Most of this chapter takes place topside. It’s all frenetic and bloody, in stark contrast to the calm, quiet tension below the surface. 

It’s always refreshing when the big creature reveal happens in the last chapter, and the Siren does not disappoint. You might wonder, what exactly could be brought to such a well known monster that we haven’t seen before? I had this thought. It was put to bed when this thing opened her mouth and started devouring crew members whole. The exact mechanics of this feat is something to behold.

Horror in comics is not the easiest genre to tackle. The nature of the medium takes away many of the tried and true tools that are used in cinema and even prose. Sea of Sorrows rises to the challenge and excels at bringing solid, genuine scares to the page. Easily one of the best series of 2021. 

Sea of Sorrows #5, IDW Publishing, 28 April 2021. Written by Rich Douek, art/color by Alex Cormack, letters by Justin Birch.