With her very afterlife at stake, Jess must confront a dangerous figure, raising questions about her own death. Now a fugitive, Jess needs answers and is running out of options. Luckily, a new, powerful scythe might be the key to deciphering this entire mystery. Grim #4 is written by Stephanie Phillips, drawn by Flaviano, colored by Rico Renzi and lettered by Tom Napolitano for BOOM Studios.
Are our heroes on a descent into hell, a descent into madness or a descent into Las Vegas? Looks like the venn diagram of those three is a circle. The End is after our trio, and as they travel deeper into the lost souls of whatever afterlife this is, Jessica discovers that with a swish of Death’s scythe, they’re now transported into Las Vegas.
Rico Renzi has been slowly adding to the color palette of this series issue by issue, and MY GOODNESS, I’m glad we’ve got some full color here because the team’s depictions of Sin City make my eyeballs happy. Every nook and cranny of the spread is covered in a delightful spectrum of a mashup between Tron and Mario Kart’s Rainbow Road.
While they’re on the Strip, Jessica saves a bride from her untimely end and somehow travels her through a bus, preventing her death. For a second, the woman is astounded, and then it seems her body is occupied by the Reaper. He gives Jess a time and a place, and the woman is returned to her body without a clue. So many more questions, very few answers. Death can inhabit the bodies of the almost dead? Jessica can save people from death? Or is that the power of the scythe? How did Jessica die?!
Sadly, none of these questions is answered. We’re left with the image of Jessica, Eddie and Marcel meeting up with an old man a la The Dude in a nasty apartment and Adira swearing vengeance upon Jessica to the hordes of other reapers.
As we dig further and further into this series and the world it inhabits, we just get questions lining up like gravestones in the dark. Will the deep dive into Sumerian culture pay off, or was I reading too far into it? It’d be pretty darn cool if the fount of life Ereskigal (referenced in the last issue) spilled out into Las Vegas. Honestly, I just want more from this fascinating series, and I have a feeling we’ll get just that and at least some of these questions answered.
Cat Purcell is a Career Services Librarian, cosplayer, artist, and massive coffee consumer.
