Time to Pick a Side in The Marked #3
The last couple of issues of The Marked have introduced us to the dangerous world of magic. More than that, it showed us the risk of using magic in a world where the ordinary person stands no chance against it. Well, it’s safe to say that The Marked #3 has upped the ante on that whole mess.
Liza’s plant alongside Shadowgate (she insisted on renaming the organization) is moving steadily forward. Actually, that’s a bit of an understatement. What she has been doing is terrifying, to put it plainly. One can only imagine what the backlash will be when the magical community takes note of what is being done.
This has been a dark and fascinating series from the start. This is a world of secret organizations, occult, and dark dimensions. It’s also a tale of loyalty and betrayal and the cost of those decisions.
Writing
David Hine and Brian Haberline have written a terrifying tale in The Marked #3. The previous issue gave us enough reasons to be concerned, but they somehow managed to further up the ante.
This took a very delicate amount of balance. Go too far, and suddenly, the plot feels too out there and otherworldly to ever have the chance of fitting in with the real world. Don’t go far enough, and the readers will lose the concern, making our spines tingle.
Previously, it felt like we saw a lot of buildup towards the true event. But now it feels like we’ve finally sunk our teeth into the series. And that comes alongside several surprising twists and changes. Now, readers are likely eagerly looking forward to the next installment of the series. I know I’m more than a little curious to see what will happen next.
Art
The Marked #3 is full of brilliant and dynamic artwork. I’m going to go ahead and say that the art is the shining feature of this series so far. It’s intense and beautiful, leaning on the aesthetics that go hand in hand with tattoo art.
Haberlin may be one of the authors of this series, but he’s also the lead artist. Perhaps that is why the artwork and the plot are so closely tied to one another. Certainly, his detailed and highly stylized work is perfect for this plot.
Geirrod van Dyke is the colorist for this issue, and the colors are sublime. They’re dark and foreshadowing when needed, of course. But they’re also not afraid to dive into beautifully bright colors.
Finally, there’s Francis Takenaga, who provided the lettering for this issue. There were several font changes throughout this issue, and they did an excellent job distinguishing between voices and facts.
I would like to make a note: this issue did a great job of skirting around some disturbing elements. There’s no doubt that there was animal death and violence in this issue. But it was done so that it was still bearable to think – yet very horrifying to think about too much.
Conclusion
The Marked #3 was an intense continuation of this series. I, along with many other fans, I’m sure, have so many questions about what is to come. The revelations in this issue were strong enough to force us to stop on a dime and think about what we were just told. And I just had the sense that this was only the beginning of it all.
This review was originally written for Word of the Nerd, but has been ported over to Quirky Cat’s Fat Stacks now that the site has shut down.
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