REVIEW: Ether #5

The war between science and magic is heating up in Ether, but now the battle is being shifted to Earth. Up until now, Boone has been using science to defeat magic on the Ether side of the divide. When he discovers that there are portals between the universes that he didn’t create, Boone knows he only has a short time until the copper golem strikes.

Matt Kindt (Divintiy III: Stalinverse, Mind MGMT, Rai) uses this issue to give us a greater insight into what drove Boone to spend so much time exploring Ether. He also shows us the high price that he paidÂ in terms of his own family.

Boone learns that the portal in New York is not the only one that was created from the Ether side. He figures out who is behind these attacks and goes to confront them only to realize that he doesn’t have enough proof to bring his enemy before the law. But clever and resourceful as always, Boone has a new plan.

David Rubin’s (The Fiction, The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers) art continues to make this book look like a brutalist fairy tale both in Ether and on Earth. I love how he shifts his color palate between the two world as well as between the past and the present.

His attention to detail is really amazing when you look at his panels. There is a sense of false simplicity. If you just let your eyes glaze over the page, the Rubin’s art looks blocky and almost child-like, but when you look at the detail work, the art really shines. There is something new to find every time you go back to look at it.

The best example of this is when Boone returns to his home. At first the place looks modernist and simple. But when you go back and look at the panels you notice that contrasting with the simple lines of the architecture and furniture are the detailed Japanese wood blocks on the wall.

This is a book where the rational and the irrational are at constant war with each other. It is clear that Boone would always side with the logical, the real question is, can he remain true to his commitment to it?

[yasr_overall_rating]

Writer: Matt Kindt
Artist: David Rubin
Publisher: Dark Horse

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Andy Hall

Sent from the future by our Robot Ape overlords to preserve the timeline. Reading and writing about comics until the revolution comes. All hail the Orangutan Android Solar King!