Advance Review: It’s Raining Angels In ‘Blood Tree’ #5
by Tom Smithyman
Overview
While the plot may continue to stretch the bounds of reality, it does so in a fairly compelling way. The illustrations, however, continue to be problematic. A wonderful cover almost delivers a bait and switch when you open the issue and find dramatically different artwork.
Overall
8/10The body count in Blood Tree is growing exponentially.
Wingman, the serial killer who targets the families of murderers, starts out the issue by expanding his list of potential victims outside of New York City and into the Pennsylvania State Prison. There, family members visiting their loved ones in jail are easy targets. And he hasn’t stopped his killing within New York as well. By the end of the issue, the body count is well into double digits, if not higher.
That clearly put detectives Azzaro and Diaz in a bind. They’ve both had close encounters with the killer before, and this new level of improvisation is only complicating the situation. And the public nature of the killings – many of them involve the soon-to-be deceased strapping on angels’ wings and jumping from skyscrapers and bridges – is heightening the public’s anxiety.
Peter J Tomasi has managed to walk a tightrope with his script. While the death toll borders on the outrageous, it still feels at least somewhat plausible. He has made the curious decision though, to set aside some of Azzaro’s personal connections to this case, which were revealed in the pervious issue. And Tomasi could use a lesson in geography. He would have us believe that a Manhattan detective can drive to a Pennsylvania prison in less time than local crime scene investigators.
Maxim Simic’s artwork continues to be problematic. His broad, non-detailed style takes a lot of getting used to, particularly when contrasted against the specific and detailed covers from Christian Alamy and Brad Anderson. Still Simic manages to pull off a few beautiful pages, particularly of the doomed “angels” taking a last flight from the Empire State Building.
With this miniseries concluding in the next issue, the creative team has a lot of loose ends to tie. It seems unlikely that they will be able to sew up everything in a compelling way, but that journey should be a mostly enjoyable one.
Blood Tree #5 will be available for purchase on June 7, 2023.
