Review: The White Sky In ‘White Sky’ #4 Is Awfully … White
by Tom Smithyman
Overview
While the story is interesting on its face, this series is starting to feel the drag from lack of answers about how we got here. In particular, the shite sky from the title remains a curiosity, as well as a barrier to making some strong artwork stand out even more.
Overall
8.5/10In the world of White Sky, San Francisco sure ain’t what it used to be.
It’s taken Violet and her mysterious psychic friend Walter three issues to reach the City by the Bay, only to find devastation. Most of the buildings are still there, but they are decayed and dilapidated. It’s not exactly the escape Violet was looking for after her father David was captured by other survivors of…well, whatever happened to turn the sky white and send wraiths out into the world.
One of the first sights we see in this issue is artist J.P. Mavinga’s depiction the Golden Gate Bridge. Wrecked and stripped cars line the span, which has something growing from its massive steel cables. It’s a stunning image that shows the devastation that Violet and her dad were trying to escape from.
Unfortunately, it also shows the inherent limitations in creating a story with pictures where the sky has turned white. Nature provided humans with a great blue or black backdrop most of the time. By making the sky white, the contrast against colorist’s Lee Loughridge mostly beige buildings gets lost or at least severely muted. It’s not a knock against Loughridge as much as the story conceit itself.
Writer William Harms tells at least two stories over the course of this chapter. There’s Violent and Walter and their misadventures in what’s left of San Francisco while the rest of the issue is dedicated to Violet’s imprisoned dad, who must help repair a wall of debris to keep out the spirits. How does a physical wall keep out non-corporeal beings? Your guess is as good as mine.
Up until now, Harms and team have focused on Violet’s and David’s stories instead of giving us some needed background. That only works for a while. Sooner or later, we’re going to need the backstory so we can stop asking the basic questions and delve more into the story before us.
White Sky #4 — written by William Harms, illustrated by J.P. Mavinga, colored by Lee Loughridge, and lettered by Ed Dukeshire — is available now in comic book stores and on digital platforms from Image Comics.
