Battlecats Vol.3 #4

Battlecats Vol.3 #4

Mad Cave Studios 2021

Written by Mark London

Illustrated by Michael Camelo

Coloured by Tekino

Lettered by Miguel A. Zapata

Kelthan reconnects with Master Rautan at the White Marsh Islands and begins training as Kelthan begins the process of rebuilding his broken spirit. The Battlecats are sent on a quest by Queen Adastril to defeat the Eltoreq led Blood Priests responsible for the Blood Moon. Meanwhile, the Darkats wreak havoc across Valderia, searching for the Queen and the rebels looking to take Valderia back from the hands of Valadar!

I’ve been really impressed with this arc and how well we are getting to see inside the Battlecats heads. This has been a highly emotionally charged arc as it deals with the death of the King and the Usurper of the throne which throws the land into this chaotic state. There’s way too much self-blame going on here and the Cats really need to pull together, get back together and finally get the Queen back upon her throne while we wait for the next in line to grow up. That’s all fine and dandy but this is about the Cats picking up the pieces and learning to cope with their grief and just get it together in general. I have to admit though we do see a lot of raw emotional storytelling happening here and it’s pretty damn glorious to witness.

I am very much enjoying the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. The character development that we see through the narration, the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter does a marvellous job in bringing these always growing & evolving personalities to the forefront. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more of the story the more anxious we become for what is next.

I am a fan of the way that we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen. That the layers open up new avenues to be explored are being done in a smart way to add this great depth, dimension and complexity to the story is superb. The way that we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is impeccably rendered.

The interiors here are really well rendered. The linework is great and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create the detail within the work that we see are very well rendered. We could always see more backgrounds being used but what we do see does wonders in enhancing and expanding the moments. They also work within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and that overall sense of size and scope to the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkably talented eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows a great understanding of how colour works.

Just the way that this is being told feels incredibly complete to me, and I mean a natural flow or progression of events that we see unfold. Nothing feels left out, skimmed or glossed over and that is important when you talk about someone's skill, talent and verve as a writer. Mark has steadily gotten better and better with each new issue of each new arc and to see him at the level he’s at now is phenomenal. The writing is superb and the characterisation is sharp while the interiors do a splendid job bringing it all to life beautifully.