There were several Marvel comics I was expecting out this month that don't appear to be showing up. Weird. At least two of them were mini-series I was considering dropping, so maybe I should take it as a sign. The universe is trying to save me from bad decisions. On the other hand, why would it start doing that now?
Dio, Gordi and Turtleneck Jones reach the place where Billy's ashes are stored. After Dio answers a riddle about death and life from two weird yellow things, they still have to blow up the gate to get in. Kettlehead shows up to ruin the plan with some fancy new powers and save dozens of longboxes of '90s comics, but Natas, or at least his head, pulls a suicide bomber routine to make sure those comics get the fate they deserve.
Once inside, Dio has one last legal pad flashback to when she designed the ceramic urn the ashes are stored in. It also shows how she tried to deny he was dying, but Billy had long since accepted how things were going to end. We see conversations they have, as well as some with other people, where Billy just casually discusses how he's gonna be dead soon and Dio tries to act like he's joking.
Back outside, Turtleneck Jones has killed most of Kettlehead's Multi-Form clones, but the real deal's got him on the ropes. It looks like we're about to see what happens when Natas and Jones are dead at the same time, when Dio rushes in and clocks Kettlehead upside the kettle with the urn. Shattering it and thereby scattering his ashes. Jones handles the rest, and Dio has a brief breakdown.
It's sad, and a little sweet. Right after the panel I selected, Mahfood switches to this almost watercolor style, where Dio's cheeks have this rosy color like he dropped one dilute bit of red paint and let it spread on the paper. It's another of those touches I haven't seen Mahfood use prior to this. It gives the sequence, which is around six panels, a unique look.
Dio's spent the whole series remembering Billy, and their last times together, but this whole bit where she uses him to save Jones' life is the first time where it seems like she acts in a way Billy might have. To charge in without thinking and do something crazy, and then revel in how cool it was. Given the butterfly symbolism, it's like she came out of a cocoon of grief and now she's able to move forward. Not only is she wanting to go find the Grrl Scouts and get trained by them, she wants to help Gordi rescue his family, too. She's embraced taking chances and acting, even if there's a big risk.
I don't know when Mahfood will get back to another of these series, but when he does, I'm curious if he'll focus on the rescue or the visit to Freak City. Or maybe both.
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