DANCING WITH THE DRAGON #4 – Review

DANCING WITH THE DRAGON #4, from Scout Comics on February 23rd, 2022, brings the current arc to a bloody conclusion as Connor is about to be fed to a pen of carnivorous hogs while Blythe reaches out to an unlikely source for help.

The Details

• Written By: Rob MacKinnon
• Art By: Luca Casalanguida
• Colors By: Natalia Nesterenko
• Letters By: Joel Rodriguez
• Cover Art By: Luca Casalanguida
• Cover Price: $3.99
• Release Date: February 23, 2022

Wait! Don’t Forget To Sign Up For The Comical Opinions Newsletter.

Was It Good?

DANCING WITH THE DRAGON #4 concludes the arc by challenging your moral compass. Under any other circumstances, you shouldn’t be rooting for the criminals, yet somehow, MacKinnon has crafted such a likable pair of thieves that you want to see them get away with their crimes. Or at least, see them get away.

Comics writers should take note of this series for the way MacKinnon has developed his main characters in a way that goes against the stale model of “hero”. The good guys need not be characters who save cats from trees or rush into burning buildings to save an old lady. A “hero” need only have a firm reason for their actions and, by any reasonable measure, be a better person than the antagonists they’re up against. It’s the Parker model of anti-heroes, and MacKinnon nails it.

What’s rare about this comic is the lack of any sizable storytelling flaws. Readers get a few twists and turns, more than one backstabbing moment, and the excessive back-and-forth time jumps that made the first issue confusing are gone. In all, the writing in this issue is taut, tight, and holds your attention.

The art in this issue thankfully works just as well as the writing. Besides the obligatory gunfights and chase scenes, Casalanguida peppers in pinpoint accurate glances that convey a whole paragraph’s worth of character intention and feeling. Those glances only happen a few times, but you can’t miss them and they’re powerfully effective.

Keep scrolling for a closer look at the covers, or Click Here to jump right to the story description with some spoilers.

What’s It About?

[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]

When last we left Connor, he was being held hostage and beaten by the Triad for skimming money off the money laundering scheme he devised with Blythe’s help. Blythe knows Connor’s in trouble, but she doesn’t know where he is or what’s happened to him.

In desperation, Blythe calls Marcus for help. Reluctantly, Marcus agrees to help Blythe use the GPS tracker on Connor’s phone to find him in exchange for cooperation in Marcus’s investigation. The duo follows the GPS signal to Chinatown just in time to see a beaten and bound Connor and Ying get tossed into the back of a van by an armed gang of Triads.

Marcus and Blythe follow the van out to a country estate where the Triad Boss’s barn holds a pen of carnivorous hogs. Marcus calls for backup from the police and the FBI but heads to save Marcus as the authorities won’t arrive in time. We conclude the issue with multiple double-crosses, multiple deaths, and an ending that’s happy for some but sad for others.

As an Amazon Associate, we earn revenue from qualifying purchases to help fund this site. Links to Blu-Rays, DVDs, Books, Movies, and more contained in this article are affiliate links. Please consider purchasing if you find something interesting, and thank you for your support.