This book is like a punch in the face from a pretty girl. Sure she’s
acknowledging you existence and even making physical contact with you, but she’s
also inflicting pain upon you. The first volumes of Days Missing were separate stories
from different creative teams, but with the second volume it’s been all Phil
Hester and David Marquez. If you didn’t figure out why they made the switch, it’s
Phil Hester. He understands these characters and the world they live in.
Everything he’s been doing has been so interesting and well researched that it shows why Archaia made the creative switch.
This issue starts off with a reminder of the first issue, but it’s
very subtle. From there we see Steward paying Kestus a visit at the Large Hadron Collider.
Her company is in charge of security and the Steward is for once at piece with
his visit. Kestus on the other hand seems fearful of something and acts very
cold toward the Stewart, who is very happy to see her. He’s dropped off at the
press area, but soon wonders off after over hearing a concerned employee taking
about energy influxes. Of course the Steward takes an interest in the young employee’s
findings and soon they discover that Kestus is back up to her old ways, only
this time it’s going to cost one of them dearly.
There’s been a very
natural progression in the relationship between Kestus and the Steward, as
weird as that sounds. This makes the conclusion of the series very tragic and to be
honest I didn’t see it coming. Maybe I was too content with their interaction that
I became hopeful of a happy ending. That was not the case. Instead the story
leaves you almost as heartbroken as the Steward and to add insult to injury the
story also ends on a cliffhanger.
Phil Hester did an
amazing job on this series from beginning to end and it’s come out as one of
Archaia’s best works. Hester manages to craft a delicate and real relationship
between two characters that go years between seeing each other and makes you
care about their struggle and relationship with each other all the more. It’s a powerful
story from beginning to end and I’m already looking forward to the collected
edition.
What’s left to say about
the art? David Marquez is bloody brilliant and I’m sure that working with Phil
Hester made his job easier since Hester is also an artist. Either way, Marquez
is already lined up for the next Days Missing series which is great since he
gives the book and franchises a distinct look. His rendition of the Steward is memorable
and iconic and basically the only one I think of with Days Missing.
If you missed out on
this series I highly recommend picking it up either in back issues or in the
hardcover that’s coming soon. This is some of Phil Hester’s best work and it really has that Archaia feel to it. There’s a preview at the end of the issue
for the next series, First Fold, and
it already looks to be good. If you love sci-fi, you owe it to yourself to pick
up this book.
Overall Score – 9.7/10