From Within You, It Devours — Reviewing ‘Static: Shadows Of Dakota’ #6

Darkness is a truly scary, heavy, encompassing, consuming thing, whether it comes from the shadows around us or from within. That is what stands before Virgil Hawkins, Static, in the penultimate issue of Static: Shadows Of Dakota.

This sixth issue of the series comes from Nikolas Draper-Ivey, Vita Ayala, and Andworld Design. The second to last entries in a finite story have many things to accomplish. Often, they can be used to set up all the dominos that will be knocked over in the finale. Perhaps they might turn their attention to turning over stones that still have secrets beneath them.

Another choice, made here, is to really delve deep into the mental/character space of your main characters, protagonist, and antagonist. Fleshing each of them out and expressing what makes them unique sets the emotional, dramatic stakes for the finale.

Ebon was a villain created specifically for the Static Shock cartoon series in the early 2000s. Being a half-hour animated Saturday morning kids show, there wasn’t always tons of room to do deep dives for characters. Some villains and supporting cast were heavier than others who fit more into an undeveloped niche. That’s not a mark against the creators in any way, there is just only so much room in the format they were working within.

Ebon was one of those mostly paper-thin darker villain types, while his brother Rubberband Man was the one that got quite a bit more development. That’s not the case in the comic now as Draper-Ivey and Ayala dig deep down and put it all on display.

Hero and villain are compared here, their different mindsets set by what they experienced in life and how they chose to face it. All the story and even the action all take place within Ebon, and within their minds essentially. We get to witness Virgil fully become the hero, persevering and pushing through to stop the villain by actually saving him. That’s the hero stuff right there.

Because it all takes place within Ebon/the mindscape, there is room for Draper-Ivey to just go buck wild with the artwork. All that normally very dynamic big bold almost watercolor-like artwork that he brings to the page, is kicked up a million notches here. Just so gorgeous with the way that the panels are laid out, incorporating their memories and moments into everything else.

Being within the shadows means that the artwork will be heavier and darker, yet there is still room for plenty of that big light and hope that Virgil brings. It’s a tangible heaviness on the page as the darkness really does feel consuming here. Feels just like stepping out into the darkest of night, feeling terrified yet also in awe of that cold darkness and what it represents.

Emotions are nailed within the overall art and carried further by the work that the folks at Andworld Design pull off each time. Making sure that the various bits of dialogue flow through these pages, never overwhelming or standing in the way of things that shift all over the page. We hear and feel every single bit of pain, determination, anger, and more that the characters are unleashing during their faceoff. It just so naturally fits within the realm of what Draper-Ivey is doing with the artwork as if it was all meant to be together always.

Truly there is no wonder that this series shifted from six to seven issues after it debuted. We would have been robbed of such a rich issue had this been the conclusion to the whole story. Instead, we got this journey that is definitely already in the top handful of my list of best issues this year.

Static: Shadows Of Dakota #6 is now available from DC Comics.