After another awful confrontation with her father, Sadie tries to get him taken away. Will Wes even understand, much less be able to help her with her plan? Find out in Finger Guns #4 from Vault Comics!
FINGER GUNS #4
Writer: Justin Richards
Artist: Val Halvorson
Colorist: Rebecca Nalty
Letterer: Taylor Esposito
Editor: Adrian F. Wassel
Publisher: Vault Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: August 5, 2020
Previously in Finger Guns: Sadie thinks she has discovered a new finger gun and she wants to test it. Her calm gun no longer affects her dad like it used to, and she wants to protect her mom and keep him from killing her for the insurance. They try the finger gun on Chester the dog, who suddenly can jump high and do backflips. Sadie talks Wes into trying it on her, and it seems to boost her confidence. Wes goes home and has a fun night with his dad, bonding over music. Sadie goes home to more violence. She tries the confidence gun…but it is not enough.
FEELING SO ALONE
Finger Guns #4 gets right to the heart of the lives of young people who have serious problems at home and who have come to the realization that there may not be someone out there who can help them. This has hit Sadie particularly hard. As the story opens on a school field trip, she is sitting in the back of the bus and won’t talk with her friends. Those friends warn Wes away from her as well.
As they wander around the local aquarium, each wearing headphones, each lost in their own thoughts, they collide. Then they decide to talk. Sadie confides that even with the new gun, her powers aren’t protecting her mom. Wes, a young white boy, wants to talk to Mr. County. Sadie insists that she can’t and explains how her mother is not yet a full citizen. No matter what her father does, if they end up in court, Sadie’s mom could be deported. She has an elaborate plan to get her father in trouble, away from home, so the police might take him and not involve her mother. Wes is concerned that this is dangerous, especially if she wants to use her powers.
Wes gets home that evening to find Chester has been picked up by animal control after biting Mr. County. Wes’ father is working late, so he must deal with this on his own. Mr. County steps in to downplay the bite he got. Meanwhile, Sadie decides to go through with her plan and hides in the back of her father’s car as he drives to his late shift at work.
Mr. County talks with Wes and asks about what’s going on between him and Sadie. Without hearing the whole story, he promises to help, and Wes believes him. They get in Mr. County’s car. Sadie’s father is angry already, badmouthing the girl and her mother, and she uses the anger gun on him. He sees her in the car, turns around, and crashes the car into their own house. On their way over, Wes briefly explains their powers, which Mr. County does not believe. More crucially, he does explain the issues with Sadie’s dad. Will they get there in time?
WHEN THINGS FALL APART
Finger Guns #4 deals with some heavy issues. High school may seem like the last few years of youth and freedom for teenagers, but for those who have serious things going on at home, it’s adulthood hitting early with the realization that they don’t know what to do. Wes, coming to school after one of his best nights with his dad, has no idea of Sadie’s pain, but he can see, almost as clearly as we can, that she is not doing well. Their conversation in the aquarium is so tense and serious, and I like the way the background, so peaceful and blue, sets off the drama. And then there’s a great panel where she walks off to deal with her troubles on her own, and she heads for the aquarium section labeled, “The Deep.” Talk about some foreshadowing!
The scenes with Sadie’s mother are heartbreakingly tender. We see just how close their bond is and how they are on the cusp of changing who is protecting whom. It’s a hard way to grow up. Their backgrounds are in blues and purples. In contrast, the harrowing panels with Sadie’s father have red backgrounds, the red of anger, of violence, of blood. This is a story that doesn’t pull its punches.
BOTTOM LINE: THIS IS NO LIGHTHEARTED ROMP
Finger Guns #4 is all about desperation and consequences. Wes and Sadie both make difficult decisions with very little information, and this heightens the tension as we don’t know if things will turn out at all well. But friends stick by each other even when the going gets tough.
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Finger Guns #4
Sadie’s desperate plan relies on the finger guns she doesn’t totally understand.
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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.