Like Waking From A Strange And Beautiful Dream: ‘A Kiss For Atticus’ #4 Reviewed
by Olly MacNamee
Summary
Amver awakens from her troubled slumber. But was it a dream or reality? A bit of both, it would seem, in this concluding issue of Liam Sharp’s ‘A Kiss for Atticus’.
Overall
10/10What is real or unreal begins to separate as Amber comes to her senses, or is that she is awakens from a dream-like state of consciousness in which the reader was equally immersed? What is true is that Daryl and Amber are reunited, and their love is one of the few tangibles in this dreamy conclusion to Liam Sharp’s A Kiss for Atticus. Even Taliesin remains confused, stating he is “learning” and that he has “much more (he) shall never understand”. But he has a good time trying to inform Amber, and thereby the reader, of what we have all just experienced in this dark and psychedelic miniseries set simultaneously in the past, present and future.
This has been one hell of a mind-bending and challenging miniseries, with the visuals to match, as Sharp blends comics with prose and all accompanied by spectacular and experimental digital art, to produce something akin to a comic book version of a prog-rock album. It is a bold experiment in both narration and art that aims – and succeeds – in elevating the humble comic book and what it can achieve to an artistic form that will challenge many readers, including myself. And in doing so, it takes up many varied inspirations from art and literature to create something extraordinary to behold.
Two parts fantasy and sci-fi, another part magic realism, A Kiss for Atticus #4 is out now from Image Comics.
