The Good
Mikey and company are on the run from the police, after his father helped him break out of the police station, and Mikey is off to complete "his" goal of going after people on Earth from Terrenos.
There's this moment, during this issue, where the suspension of disbelief about Mikey fades away. It happens in the gas station when the clerk tells Aaron that her son came back from the war overseas a bit messed up and it's at that point, where you almost question what Mikey has gone through. Is this really Mikey or someone who just knows too much about him? Obviously, that's not the case, otherwise this book would take an insanely dark turn, but I do like the fact the book still has the aura of mystery involving Mikey, even though a lot of his story has already been put into motion.
All of the distrust in Mikey is quickly washed away at the end of the issue as the Ward's forest starts to attack the family. Mikey's family finally has a bit of visual proof that Mikey's story lines up. Writer Joshua Williamson is great with building up the tension in this issue and pushing the story forward. There's nothing stagnant or dull here. Everything happens for a reason and the book is always moving forward.
Once again, Andrei Bressan's visuals, with Adriano Lucas' colors, creates a fully-realized mythical world and at the same time gives us a gritty look at the real world. The final page, showing the Ward for who he truly is, is impressively designed and full of rich detail to make this character feel like he's from another world. Lucas' colors really bring this page to life and draw the eye around the whole page. This art team's work is consistent throughout the issue and one thing Bressan does especially well is show movement through some of the action sequences early on in the book.
The Bad
This book ends at a huge cliffhanger which easily has the capability to piss of the reader because they have to wait another month to read what happens next. It is a bit of a bummer that the issue is so heavy with the set-up and it all kicks off on the final pages. When you look back at the issue as a whole, there's a few moments where a scene just stops to be told later on, but those "later on" moments don't happen here.
The Verdict
BIRTHRIGHT continues to be one of the more impressive books under the pen of Joshua Williamson, who also has several other hits under his hat. Conceptually, this book is nothing short of brilliant and while this issue doesn't pay off on some of the stories told within it, it's still a wonderfully crafted issue both in the writing and with the art. BIRTHRIGHT is easily one of the best new on-going series and something people should check out if they enjoy a bit of fantasy in their comics. I highly recommend this issue.