Strikman is no closer to finding the girl who shot him, but there are more and more connections to his own past. Will he find out more from his next lead? Find out in Lotus Land #4 from BOOM! Studios.
LOTUS LAND #4
Writer: Darcy Van Poelgeest
Artist: Caio Filipe
Colorist: Patricio Delpeche
Letterer: Nate Piekos of Blambot
Editor: Allyson Gronowitz
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: February 21, 2024
Previously in Lotus Land: After being shot, Strikman goes to Tabby’s house. She has special healing powers. He urges her to be part of Ethan’s life and she claims the boy does not need either of them. Strikman finds Wickstrom. The police are looking for Strikman, she tells him, and the story is that he killed Parker. He gives her the murder weapon which is Lundi’s gun. Wickstrom has also found a possible match for the girl, Shelly Waters, whose last known residence was Frasierview Hospital. This is the hospital where Strikman and Tabby lived as children when they first learned they had powers. They go to the now abandoned facility. Strikman now remembers children being taken away and not returning. They explore the grounds and find an additional underground facility. The walls are covered with photos of the missing children.
A LEAD TO FURTHER DESOLATION
Lotus Land #4 opens on Strikman walking into a club looking for someone known as The Twin. The Twin runs this club. Strikman punches his way through security and makes his way up the elevator. The Twin has a brother who had been missing since they were kids. Strikman recognized a photo of him in the underground facility. It’s also a face he remembers seeing when he was shot. Strikman demands to know about Shelly Waters. Instead, The Twin gets in Strikman’s head and appears as his son Ethan. Strikman gets angry, but this was enough of a distraction for security to catch up with him and sun him.
Strikman awakens on a boat with the notorious Melina Ze standing over him. She wants to know why he is looking for Shelly. At this point, he has no specific answer anymore. He also believes it is more than likely that she is dead. But Melina needs him for something. She takes him to an island in the inlet. This place is an unregulated chunk of city, abandoned by and isolated from the mainland. Melina takes him to an apartment where Shelly used to live. She had found Shelly as a runaway from Frasierview and gave her a place to live. Then Lundi raided the place and Shelly was never seen again. Her stuff is still boxed up here though.
As Strikman looks through her belongings, he tells Melina that Shelly must have been gifted and asks what made her special. Melina claims not to know. Strikman accuses her of taking the girl in for money. He cannot believe that Melina would have that much kindness in her. Strikman finds a few handwritten letters and accuses Melina of handing Shelly over because she did not want the police in her business.
Melina demands the letters. Strikman faces her down. Does she really just want him out of the way, or does she want to find out what happened to Shelly. Melina Ze does not know for certain.
Wickstrom picks him up from the island and reminds him she had said she would turn him in if she saw him again. He says that’s fine as long as there’s a meal and dry clothes. He just wants to make one more stop.
CONNECTIONS TO THE PAST
As Strikman stolidly continues his investigation and it hits closer to his own life, we can see his growing depression in the art of Lotus Land #4. The unrelenting rain echoes this. In the opening sequence, Strikman looks at the club and the hundreds of young people there, escaping their daily lives. In Heister’s world, do they have any greater purpose in their lives? Strikman starts to question his own purpose. What or who is he looking for anymore? All his leads are probably dead, and he is now investigating in a part of the city which is as good as dead. If things seemed dreary for the average person in Vancouver, they are even worse on the island that has been left to its own devices.
The rain pours down in heavier sheets on the island, and I particularly like how it is drawn against the windows and is echoed in the shadows on the floor. The color palette is grayed out as though no sunlight is getting through. Melina looks at home here, a hard-bitten woman, likely a criminal, certainly someone who is in this for herself. Despite Heister’s grandiose purpose, this is a world where it helps to be tough to get by.
BOTTOM LINE: THE TRUTH IS ELUSIVE
It is difficult to understand what is going on, but I think Lotus Land #4 captures the essence of a detective investigation, especially when it seems like someone with resources is covering things up as fast as Strikman can find them.
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Lotus Land #4
Strikman’s investigation hits closer to home than he expected.
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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.