Advance Review — It’s The Past Versus The Future In ‘Skinbreaker’ #5

By all rights, this review should really be about how Skinbreaker #5 shows the struggle between honoring the past while planning for the future.

That tension between yesterday and tomorrow has been present since the limited series’ start but comes to a head in this issue, where a former chieftain abandons his post to save his village from disaster. What’s most interesting is that it’s Anok, the old chieftain, who has embraced the future while the young upstart Paca is clinging the old ways.

In the story, written by Robert Kirkman, the village is both threatened by and relies upon the monstrous silver fangs. Paca wants to hunt them for food using only their crude weapons. Anok realizes the creatures are gathering for an attack and builds traps. But that’s not honorable according to Paca.

All that is fine and Kirkman does a good job of holding readers’ interest while sewing just enough doubt in Paca’s mind to set things up for the future.

But really, Skinbreaker is just an excuse to gawk at David Finch’s art each month. No, he’s not drawing Batman or Moon Knight or Wonder Woman this time. These are non-human beings from a series that won’t garner as much attention as those established characters. But Finch is a true professional and with this series, he’s just showing off what he can do.

He has built a rich alien world, full of flora and fauna that defy imagination. And he wisely varies his panel sizes to give readers splash pages and other large action areas to study. Every issue is a master class in visual storytelling.

Skinbreaker pits traditions against new ways of thinking. However you approach this argument, with Finch at the drawing board you’re going to enjoy the book.

Skinbreaker #5 will be available in comic book stories and on digital platforms Wednesday from Image Comics.