Toba and his friends decide to take on the androids and destroy the mind-control device. But can Toba rescue his father from Elseverse first? Find out in Buckhead #4 from BOOM! Studios.

BUCKHEAD #4

Writer: Shobo
Artist: George Kambadais
Letterer: Jim Campbell
Editor: Shannon Watters
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: March 2, 2022

Previously in Buckhead: Toba meets Darsha, who seems to know what is going on in Buckhead. The goons in black suits are androids. She and her dog Shadow escaped from them, but the grown-ups in town seem to be mind-controlled and they visit the school every night. Darsha has built a machine to help dampen the mind-control signal. Toba figures the control room must be in the secret computer room. Darsha wants to destroy it, but Toba tells her about his father, captured by the being Ewon and held in the virtual world of Elseverse. He does not want to destroy anything until he can rescue his father.

SNEAKING INTO DANGER

Toba, Darsha, Mel, and Romy are at the school as Buckhead #4 opens. They hide from the androids and watch. They may be essentially invisible, but there are a lot of androids. Darsha, who is kind of a doomsday prepper, has a tunnel under the school, and they get in that way. Androids are headed for the auditorium with tech from Stone Industries. The auditorium itself smells like rotten eggs, and the smell seems to be coming from what looks like a large 3D printer.

Then they go to where the door to the basement used to be. Darsha is set to knock it open, but they realize that would be noisy enough to draw attention. She gives the BSP-PAK to Toba. She, Mel, and Romy will lead the goons away and then head to the roof to stop the brain-control signal.

The plan works, or at least it gets all the goons chasing them as Toba slips into the basement. They get trapped in a classroom, but Toba logs into Elseverse and calls out for Ewon. Instead, he finds his father, who talks about how much bigger Toba was the last time he saw him. His father knows he has come for the sword, but time seems to be relative for him. They must go to the Oba’s palace to get the Eben Sword, a weapon forged to defeat Ewon!

Darsha, Mel, and Romy break the window and use the vines to climb up to the roof. Romy confesses that, despite secretly being on the wrestling team, the climb is taking more effort than he expected. His mother wanted him to be a doctor, and to deflect him, he bought medical textbooks to leave around the house. I like touches like this that feel connected to reality not only for the humor, but for the contrast between normal life and their current situation.

Toba’s dad is excited to see him and to show off the Elseverse. He claims that Toba even helped him to build it, this construct that preserves their culture. He thinks of it as a way to explore history and keep it alive. But they have had some complications, such as Ewon. Ewon trapped him here and wanted him to help escape. It turns out that Ewon needs a physical body to escape into. Toba realizes what the organic 3D printer is going to be used for.

The roof of the school is full of androids. Darsha attacks them with her sledgehammer, but Mel and Romy are caught. She does her best to hold on, but there are too many of them. They prepare to tattoo her, but they did not anticipate that Shadow would help by disconnecting the power cable.

Toba gets to the sword. His father tells him that he designed the solution to that particular quest some time in the future. Toba is suspicious of how his father is acting, but he has just been hiding the fact that he cannot be pulled out of the game. He no longer has a body to return to, and only exists in the Elseverse now. Toba must return without his father, but he does have a better idea of what is going on.

TENSE AND DRAMATIC

I like how dynamic the art in Buckhead #4 is. Everything works together. There are a lot of angular panels that give us a sense of movement. Wide shots contrast with close-ups. Several panels are drawn from high or low angles. These are techniques we often see used in movies so they read as being familiar. Even when every panel does not have a lot of background detail, we see enough that we can fill it in on our own. I love the sound effects as well. Such a simple thing as the type of lettering used can communicate just what the action sounds like, from breaking a window to tearing loose an electrical cable.

The glimpse of Elseverse is fascinating. Toba’s father looks as he did when he disappeared, but Toba appears as his in-game avatar, in a culturally appropriate outfit. They meet in an open plaza with large statues, and it does feel like a historical reconstruction brought to life. It really feels like a cross between history and a video game.

BOTTOM LINE: BUILDING TOWARD THE FINALE

Buckhead #4 is a fantastic set up to the imminent conclusion. The story has asked for some patience from us as it had a lot to set up. We are starting to see the payoff, and it is exciting.

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Buckhead #4

93%

93%

Fantastic

There’s no turning back now as Toba and his friends sneak into the school to stop the mind control!

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