The Good
Scott Snyder and Sean Murphy have been telling a pretty fascinating story. We were introduced to several characters and as the threat from the depth of the sea revealed themselves, it appeared there was no telling who would live or die. As last issue ended on a pretty big cliffhanger, we were teased with this issue jumping forward two hundred years later.
Throughout the first five issues, we've seen glimpses from the far into the past as well as this future time period. What we don't fully know is how they'll all fit together. In this future time period, we get to fully meet Leeward, the woman seen at the beginning of the series. The Mer-creatures still exist and the result of their action has caused the sea levels to rise around the world. Even though this is still tied to the original story in the series, we're being introduced to a whole new set of characters, situations, and world. As you try to put it all together, you'll be hanging onto every bit of dialogue Snyder has written. There's a completely different set of rules in this time period. As the action begins to escalate, Snyder throws another crazy twist in our face.
Sean Murphy's art is a joy to see. He's created a completely different-looking world that is a result of the creature's actions. Seeing everything makes you want to see more of this world. Matt Hollingsworth's colors makes Murphy's art even more beautiful.
The Bad
There were some moments when there was text meant to tell us the location and other information. The white lettering was hard to make out against the lightly colored backgrounds.
The Verdict
What the heck is going on? Scott Snyder is giving us a crazy story that will completely suck you in. We were left with a big cliffhanger last issue only to find the events of the story jump forward 200 years. As we see the far off aftermath of the attack from the sea creatures, we are introduced to a new world that still has a huge threat hanging over everyone. Sean Murphy's art and Matt Hollingsworth's colors makes a great story even greater. It's not often we get an intriguing story accompanied by such beautiful art. THE WAKE is the whole package. With the way Snyder keeps shaking things up, there's really no telling where the story is going to go.