Rose is published by Image Comics. It is written by Meredith Finch with art by Ig Guara.
We ended issue 4 with Rose escaping and Ila staying to fight with the other rebels against the guards. While Will may feel that Rose betrayed and abandoned them, it’s simply not the case. Rose had to make a choice, to stay and risk death or to run and find her Khat, Thorne. It’s also important to point out that Ila repeatedly told Rose to go and it took her a while to actually leave her. However, Dante is catching up fast and the fallen guardians have Thorne cornered. If Rose and Thorne fall, the rebellion and the land of Ttereve will fall with them.
I was actually happy with the break we got from the rebel group Rose has been traveling with. They’re interesting and all, but I’ve been wanting to see how Rose will fair on her own. Despite not fully understanding her powers, despite not really knowing how to fight, Rose has a goal. To avenge her mother and see the people of Ttereve freed from the oppression of Queen Drucilla. It’s nice that Rose hasn’t fallen into the stereotypical main character role – i.e. she gets beat up for a while and then out of no where becomes super OP and wrecks everyone. No, instead, Rose takes a beating but keeps getting back up, Thorne is weak and in pain, but he keeps fighting to protect his guardian. It’s a very powerful image. And don’t get me wrong, I’m sure Rose will eventually become super powerful, but she has to learn it, she doesn’t just “know” what she’s doing.
Best part of the issue though is that Rose and Thorne are finally together. Which, I won’t lie, has been kind of annoying because they’ve been depicted on covers together and it seems like we’ve been waiting a really long time for them to finally be in the same place. I mean…we have been waiting a long time, but that’s because comics come out once a month. Still, this is issue 5, meaning volume 1 is over and we’re going in to volume 2…so for the last 28 pages of the entire volume, not even the entire last 28 pages, Rose and Thorne are finally together. I do wish it would have happened sooner, and I was frustrated by it, but honestly a lot of good plot developments were able to happen BECAUSE they were separated, so I can only be so miffed.
The fallen guardian dialogue was great. Taunting, overly-confident bad guys with a dark sense of humor are just the best. They seem like sociopaths, but then you remember they’re dead and shells of who they once were and it all makes sense. They are also useful for moving the story along, because in classic bad guy fashion, they explain certain plot details so we can connect more dots. I really liked that they know the Queen is evil, they make comments about how can Dante die for her after all she has done. Maybe I’m being optimistic, but it seems like part of their soul, part of who they were, is still in there somewhere. OH! And the art. Ig Guara really brought it for this issue. Lots of fighting, lots of color contrasts, details on the deads’ decaying, lifeless faces, but most of all – that Thorne attack scene. I flipped to that page and was just like….Fuck. Yes.
OVERALL SCORE: 9 / 10
Meredith Finch loves to leave us on cliffhangers and this issue is no exception. She always does it in a tactical way. But damnit. I just want to know what happens next!
Make sure you pick up a copy of Rose #5 from your local comic store!
Happy reading!
Written by Rachel Freeman
