Nathan Bright is in the custody of Pearl, who is cheerfully auctioning off opportunities to virtually torture and kill him. Burning, or losing bridges as she goes, Amanda is desperate to find him. Can she retrieve him – and his memories – in time to prevent another terror attack?
THE WEATHERMAN #5
Writer: Jody LeHeup
Artist: Nathan Fox
Colorist: Dave Stewart
Letterer: Steve Wands
Publisher: Image Comics, Inc.
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: October 10, 2018
Previously in The Weatherman: Nathan ran away from Amanda, and we met Garren, a dealer in Mnemonium, who double-crosses a buyer and gets away with both the drug and the money. Garren throws a party, and Amanda crashes it. They used to be together, and she’s running out of people she can even vaguely trust. She finds out that the Marshall and White Light work for the psychopath known as the Pearl. Almost before she has time to register this, it turns out the Pearl has Nathan, and is actively auctioning off opportunities to torture him.
NOW THAT THE CAT’S OUT OF THE BAG…
The Weatherman #5 starts out with a man showering and rinsing blood off. He has several old scars from bullet wounds. He goes out to meet a trio of distinctive looking friends – Gho5t, who looks holographic; Metal Molly, who has some metal prosthetics, including a couple extra arms; and the woman who drives. The man is apparently trying to get in with their group, but they don’t yet trust him. One mental probe later reveals him as from the security forces and they kill him. Then we learn that this group has ties to Jenner, leader of the terrorist group, the Sword of God.
White Light approaches Pearl in his TV studio. She brings him a communication device, connecting him to The Marshall, who is mad at him. They had a deal – Pearl gets Ian Black alive, and then The Marshall gets him (Black). Pearl has no intention of honoring this deal, and simply orders them to kill Amanda and whoever is helping her.
Speaking of whom, Amanda is going after Pearl, and Garren has agreed to try to find the assistant to the doctor who expunged Nathan’s memory. Amanda doesn’t particularly like Nathan, who is Ian Black, but she has come to realize that he has to be rescued. If Jenner gets to him first, he’ll change his plans, likely moving up his next terror attack.
Nathan is in Pearl’s studio, complete with phone bank, lights, bikini-clad cheerleaders, and the works. Pearl lost everything in the attack. So in his twisted way, he’s decided to get filthy rich off the torture auction, and use the money to go after the Sword of God himself. The studio goes live, and Pearl has brought in a lucky lady, Greta, so much like a typical gameshow contestant, to be the first person to torture Nathan.
Then the tempo really starts picking up. As Amanda flies in, Pearl orders White Light to take care of her. The two of them get into a dogfight which culminates in both of the crashing to the ground. Garren finds the assistant, and gets a bad gut feeling. The scene pulls back, and we see the Marshall target him from above the atmosphere…and step out of his ship. Meanwhile, Pearl’s auction is counting down the last few seconds. We cut back to each scene in turn and end as The Marshall crashes down to his target.
BIG DRAMA, BIG ACTION
There is so much going on in The Weatherman #5, and there is so much style to it all. We have the juxtaposition of things that are viscerally lifelike, and those that are wildly futuristic. Metal Molly has dark skin, vivid red hair, and tattoos. The lower half of her face is metal, as are three of her arms and her other hand. They’re in a residential neighborhood with trees and grass, but the cars are futuristic and angular. Pearl’s TV show is over the top, but uncomfortably familiar. I think that’s one of the things that puts a lot of the power into this book – the setting is far enough away in space and time that we know it’s fictional, but it deals with some of the worst of human nature, and parts of it feel all too familary, which hits so close to home.
Speaking of which, there is yet some humor in the horror as we see Greta’s fantasy about killing Ian Black. She has Nathan sitting in a kitchen eating, and she blasts in like an avenging angel in powered armor covered with religious symbols. Then we’re off to the dogfight between Amanda and White Light, where you really get a sense of the speed and power of their battle. And the final scene – The Marshall’s landing – let’s just say I was not expecting that, and it was awesome.
BOTTOM LINE: WEIRD AND POWERFUL AND WONDERFUL
The Weatherman #5 is a thriller through and through. Last issue, things were getting tied in knots; now everything is flying apart again. It is tense, larger than life, and gripping to read. The pacing keeps us on the edge of our seats. Like a train wreck, it is violent and destructive, but also intensely fascinating.
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By day, she’s a mild-mannered bureaucrat and Ms. Know-It-All. By night, she’s a dance teacher and RPG player (although admittedly not on the same nights). On the weekends, she may be found judging Magic, playing Guild Wars 2 (badly), or following other creative pursuits. Holy Lack of Copious Free Time, Batman! While she’s always wished she had teleportation as her superpower, she suspects that super-speed would be much more practical because then she’d have time to finish up those steampunk costumes she’s also working on.