Review: ‘Phantom Road’ #5 Leaves More Questions Than Answers
by Tom Smithyman
Overview
After a slow start, this superstar creative team delivers a compelling end to the series’ first story arc. Some expressive visuals as well as innovative uses of colors are highlights for the issue.
Overall
8.5/10Some questions get answered while new conundrums emerge.
That’s typically the sign of a compelling page-turner, which is precisely what Phantom Road is becoming. After a slow start in the first two issues, the series seems to have turned the corner and is now telling a reliably entertaining tale.
Truck driver Dom and his surprise passenger Birdie find themselves in an alternate reality populated primarily by faceless humanoids that are after the mysterious rock-like object in his rig. How’d they get there? Who knows. But by the end of this initial story arc, we now know more about their haul. Of course, that only leads to more questions. Meanwhile FBI agent Theresa Weaver has lots of questions of her own after learning about an apparent agency conspiracy and her own visit years ago to the alt reality.
What’s not in question, though, is that the series is now humming along, thanks to the work of its creative team led by writer Jeff Lemire and artist Gabriel H. Walta. Both are fantastic storytellers, so it’s gratifying to see Phantom Road taking off.
Walta’s illustrations are helped considerably by colorist Jordie Bellaire. Bellaire effectively uses a screen over the pages to give the other world a muddied look. That’s in sharp contrast to the real world, which is popping with colors.
For his part, Walta gets to draw lots of violence, courtesy of Dom’s crowbar, a claw hammer and, occasionally, the semi. He can also pack a lot of facial expressions into pretty tight spaces, which is a real gift. With Lemire’s script, those expressions are critical. While most characters wear their hearts on their sleeves, the expressions created by Walta drive the story in ways far beyond the words on the page.
The only downside to the series getting good – really good – is that the creative team is taking a break at the end of this arc. With any luck, it will only heighten readers’ appreciation for the story once it returns.
Phantom Road #5 is currently available for purchase.
