More Than One Way To Skin a Cat
Each issue I get more and more suspicious of the mysterious Doctor who cured Madder Red, and this issue cinches it with an opening scene that, in all honesty, made me feel a little uncomfortable. I haven't been touched this deeply by a comic in a long time, that my instinct was pain and disgust. In a good way of course, after a few seconds the shock wore off and I could see the genius, but it was still pretty dark and horrifying. What kind of doctor lets something like THAT happen in an attempt to cure someone? And even without a visible face, the intensity of Madder Red's emotions on day 97, when something different finally happened.... that whole scene.... -shudder- Amazing.
I noticed the weirdest subtle thing this issue, and I have no idea what it's supposed to mean. The title page, each issue, has a little more added to the city each time. The power lines stood out this time as something new, and I looekd back to compare, and sure enough, the city grows each issue. What could that possibly mean?
And after seeing such intense and raw emotion in Madder Red's therapy process, it's interesting to try and piece together what kind of a man Fillmore Press is. Riley Rossmo delivers absolutely twisted visuals that help dig deep into the raw insanity. Fillmore Press face is VERY hard to read, but VERY carefully illustrated. And Nick Spencer's script... the precision strike of the echo'd line "I am not well," really caught me, the whole flow of this series has been amazing.
Fillmore Press is showing his talent, with a slightly unnerving sense of glee. He's working his way into his dream job, helping the world with the only thing he knows how to do. Madness. He takes the first steps into crafting the status quo, and helping the world with the first big arc villain. He gets along well enough with everyone, save the one person he's truly drawn to, Detective Ramira Acevedo. She doesn't trust him, but she knows he's doing good work, so she's got one more person to check him out, The First.
In Conclusion: 5/5
Nick Spencer, thank you. Bedlam is already hitting the bottom of my pull list every release (Which means it's the last comic I read because it's the one I'm most excited about.). This issue had less flashback segments, but that's ok because the one big one it had at the beginning was just so traumatic and intense that I was gripped with such an intense sorrow.... it was beautiful in a dark and terrifying way. The scripting and plot are genius, and the artwork is completely mad. Bedlam is the comic you should be reading.