This is the start of three consecutive weeks with a lot of time on the road. It's a nice time of year for it, but I can't say I'm excited. Although if my luck runs true to form, my being in the field is just the thing to prompt people to send me paperwork I've been waiting on for weeks or months, along with agitated e-mails about how soon I can reply to them.
The first third of the issue is a flashback to 3 weeks ago, when Val ends up in solitary for using another inmate's face to put a divot in the shower wall. The fed shows up with his deal, and then it's back to the present. I feel like most of what gets said between Val and the fed was covered or implied at the end of last issue, but maybe the significance was Val was having one of her episodes (flashbacks? panic attacks?) in the shower, when a blonde inmate was about to get beat up. So the episodes and her hesitance to kill Leo are tied to something that happened with a blonde lady in trouble, maybe?
The rest of the issue is Val and Leo in the diner, where Leo reveals she knows Val works for Miles and is supposed to kill her. Which at first just seems like good instincts, but in the subsequent fight, when Val hesitates to shoot Leo and gets stabbed in the gut as a result, she has another episode. Interesting how Svorcina shifts the colors to these solid blocks of reds and greens initially, then back to something more shaded and variable - not realistic in colors, moreso in shading and tone - once Val's in the episode. Only this time, Leo comes walking through the bushes, remarking on how interesting it all is.
So Leo has some ability to go inside people's heads? She didn't so much read the situation of Val's miraculous appearance last issue and draw conclusions as she's been in Val's memories? That would sort of jibe with the way she mentions the kids dining at the table nearby are gonna need a lot of therapy if they see someone shot right in front of them. Clearly Leo doesn't actually give a shit about that, considering they'll probably also need therapy after seeing someone stabbed, but she knew it would give Val pause.
Oh, and the kid working the counter at the motel where Val's staying passed along a photo of her talking with the fed to one of Miles' associates, so that cover's pretty much blown.
Esposito and von Gorman introduce Sophie in this issue, the crossing guard who pulled one of the two kids nearly hit by the drunk teacher to safety last issue (The Pedestrian saving the other.) Sophie goes about her day, helping people in little ways, while wondering if it matters, or if there's some force out there making sure every kind act is countered by a cruel one.
The one cop notes that Sophie moved to town the same time the mysterious hero showed up, and visits her apartment. Sophie's a bad liar, but the cop didn't see The Pedestrian sitting on Sophie's couch, sharing pizza, so she can't prove anything.
In the meantime, the mysterious figure with the red hand on their face visits Tucker, the guy who botched his mugging attempt, in jail. He places his mark on the guy, and the guy somehow escapes jail, beats his old boss to death with a hammer, and then attacks the failed med student-turned-pizza delivery girl. The Pedestrian arrives in the nick of time and seems to have things under control (von Gorman draws road signs illustrating how he avoids attacks) then -
I'm not sure. There was what I assumed was a specter or mental projection hanging around Tucker, but it suddenly appears behind Pedestrian. He slaps a hand over Pedestrian's symbol and the guy is thrown into some strange space full of floating giants with stoplights for heads. Back in the real world, the delivery girl clocked Tucker (and the symbol disappeared from his face), but red hands emerge from his back to carry him away, leaving delivery girl and Sophie to get the hero out of there.
So this is turning into some battle between anthropomorphized representations of abstract ideals? But I assume it's going to come down to what specific individuals do. I wondered if Esposito was going to keep having Pedestrian interact with different citizens, but it looks more like he introduced the key players in the first issue, and will circle back around to them as the story progresses. Kira (the near mugging victim) got fired for being interviewed about her mugging in front of the store, and is now babysitting the two boys who nearly got hit. The boys are very excited about Pedestrian, and Kira's curious about him, but they all seem to agree he's a good guy. Tucker surrendered to anger and resentment, the delivery girl is on the verge of giving up on herself (she describes returning to this city as "the walk of shame"), but did help Sophie get Pedestrian to safety. We'll see what the cop does once she catches up to all this.
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