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Days Missing: Kestus #5 – Review

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.

Days Missing: Kestus #5 CoverThere’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

 

Rating
9.7

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