AIN’T NO GRAVE #4, by Image Comics on 8/7/24, sends Ryder on a wordless trial through her memories, Cyprus, the grave, and beyond to turn in her marker and face Death itself.
Credits:
- Writer: Skottie Young
- Artist: Jorge Corona
- Colorist: Jean-Francois Beaulieu
- Letterer: Nate Piekos
- Cover Artist: Jorge Corona (cover A)
- Publisher: Image Comics
- Release Date: August 7, 2024
- Comic Rating: Teen
- Cover Price: $3.99
- Page Count: 36
- Format: Single Issue
Covers:
Analysis of AIN’T NO GRAVE #4:
First Impressions:
Powerful, metaphorical, and very, very quick. These are the descriptors that come to mind after reading Ain’t No Grave #4 by Skottie Young and Jorge Corona. In a silent issue, except for two words on the last page, our retired outlaw cycles through visions of pain, death, anger, hope, and depression when she follows the path to face Death for a renewed chance at life. This comic is moving stuff.
Plot Analysis:
When last we left Ryder in Ain’t No Grave #3, her gamble against the Madame in charge of the gambling river boat that ferries the recently deceased to the great beyond paid off. Ryder won the marker she wanted that would take her one step closer to Death, but her departure from the riverboat was anything but gentle.
In Ain’t No Grave #4, washes ashore after being roughly ejected from the Madame’s river boat. Bruised and exhausted, Ryder enters a town that looks very much like Cyprus, but the entire town is abandoned, as if in a hurry. She stops for a soothing drink at the local bar, and the moment reminds her of her recent past when the news of her terminal illness overwhelmed her, prompting her to lash out in anger.
Without saying a word, Skottie Young takes this chapter, titled “Depression,” to dark and painful places. In the first three issues, Ryder exhibited a sure confidence that she could do the impossible to halt an untimely death, but here, Ryder’s overwhelm shakes her to her core.
Ryder sees out of the corner of her eye a young girl standing in the saloon doorway. Regardless of her present circumstances, Ryder is convinced the girl is her daughter. When the girl runs, Ryder gives chase and follows the girl to the mines underneath the great tower on the edge of town.
Young leans, then plummets into a dream-like scenario where Ryder’s fear of Death becomes personified in the relentless separation from her daughter. Instead of drawing nearer to the loved ones she fears she’ll lose, Ryder’s vision pulls them farther apart in a palpable pall of regret.
Ryder eventually catches up to the girl who stands tearfully next to a withered corpse playing a six-string guitar. The corpse plays a somber tune while the girl cries as if Ryder is witnessing a funeral. The mine begins to shake with lightning strikes from without and earthquakes from within, causing the entire mine to collapse, burying Ryder in a casket of wood and stone.
The issue concludes with Ryder breaking through to the open air, a familiar face pointing the way, and the final boss.
Overall, Ain’t No Grave #4 uses imagery to convey every desperate ounce of emotion Ryder experiences on her way to confront Death. Skottie Young’s fable may be drawing to a close in the next issue, but this is the type of storytelling that sticks with you long after.
Artwork and Presentation:
Jorge Corona bares the weight of executing Skottie Young’s wordless script by packing as many visual expressions of emotion and symbolism as possible into every panel while still conveying a coherent, powerful story. Hats off to Corona for making a very daunting task look effortless.
Art Samples:
Final Thoughts:
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AIN’T NO GRAVE #4 delivers a wordless and emotionally powerful entry in the whimsical Old West fable by Skottie Young. Young’s thought-provoking script will stick with you long after the reading, largely due to Jorge Corona’s hard-hitting art. It’s impossible to guess where this story is heading, but the finale promises to be a banger.
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