Review: ‘Arcana Royale #4’ Goes All In

Welcome to the table,

My pal Cullen Bunn — the author of this brilliantly orchestrated story — has always told me to bet on myself. The ending of his first run on Arcana Royale, from Dark Horse Comics, feels like a brilliant conversation that inspires at times, is worrying at times, but has been from beginning to end a wholly delightful time … so in a lot of ways it’s much like hanging out with the man himself. Let’s get into it.

Hudson Tremaine has been playing a heck of a game where existential dread and cosmic destruction seem to be par for the course. A.C. Zamudio‘s art in this issue creeps-and-crawls across the pages, giving so much weight to the strange setting that even a card game set in a pocket dimension between doors of dreams and dread somehow feels normal and grounded. Bill Crabtree‘s colors are also providing a ton of moody and atmospheric splashes to really send this book to the next level.

These preview pages are amazing, but they do not do this final issue true justice. They wrap up a story that has been building — they are beautiful, that is without question, but what comes after these pages feels like something out of Cullen’s sage-like advice. It’s authentic and true, and some of the best storytelling that’s been committed to the page.

This existential breaking down of a character and then their rebuilding of themselves — because, at the end of the day, they bet on themselves — is the soul of this whole book. It’s not just a story of strange creatures and ancient horrors from beyond the walls of sleep playing cards for the ability to write reality to their whim. There is something so deeply uplifting below the surface of this story that, if you have been unlucky enough to be beaten down by the world or trauma or life, it speaks to that spark that keeps you pushing forward and trying to look out for everyone, even if you don’t much feel like it. It keeps you making moves to better yourself in spite of what is being thrown at you. It keeps you sitting at the table, putting it all on the line and betting on yourself because at the end of the day, you can’t lose.

Don’t confuse my words, it’s not that you can’t lose because you are some kind of secret savant, you can’t lose because there is too much resting on your shoulders to bend or break. It’s a story about becoming a legend out of necessity, not out of ego or the hunger for power … and those kinds of legends are a dangerous breed indeed.

Arcana Royale is one of those stories that hits me when I need it the most. It’s full of fantastic imagery and harrowing moments of doom and dread, but more than that, it’s a reminder that they may break you, but as long as you remember who is really in your corner, and you are willing to believe in yourself, sometimes … the house loses.

Until next time, believe in yourself. Please. It’s hard, but sometimes it’s all you’ve got.