In EXTRAORDINARY #4, available from Titan Comics on September 15th, 2021, Charlotte and Felix break into the EON facility with Marshall’s help to rescue Mia, but can they escape when Eli is waiting for them?
The Details
- Written By: V.E. Schwab
- Art By: Enid Balám
- Colors By: Jordi Escuin
- Letters By: Rob Steen
- Cover Art By: Priscilla Petraites
- Cover Price: $3.99
- Release Date: September 15, 2021
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Was It Good?
It’s not bad in an X-Men lite sort of way.
This issue ends the first arc, setting up the “team” for future adventures. While the formation of the team is nothing mind-blowingly spectacular or new, it doesn’t need to be. The hook of this series is the premise, gaining powers through a near-death experience. I like the premise, but once you get past the novelty of it, this turns into one of any number of “team of supers on the run from an evil organization” stories.
Once you move beyond the basic premise, the story is carried by relatable character work and strong dialog. There’s plenty of both here, supported by Schwab’s expert talents as a writer. Charlotte, as the main protagonist, comes into her own by the end of the story, and the team finds their groove by searching the world for other EO’s on the run. If you were to describe this story, it fits perfectly well as either a comic or the next Netflix series due to its emphasis on character and low-budget effects (these folks aren’t moving any mountains with these powers).
The art from Balám and the team is adequate for the task with the coloring by Escuin as the strongest highlight. The down point is Balám‘s inconsistent anatomy for the character designs. In some panels, Charlotte looks like a 17-year-old on the verge of full womanhood. In other panels, Charlotte looks like an 11-year-old with a growth deficiency. It’s one thing to stagger the character sizes to make one look bigger or smaller than the other, but the differences in this book are positively distorted.
In all, this is a solid end to the arc with strong character work and even stronger dialog. However, the overall premise becomes rather boilerplate and the inconsistent character designs are jarring.
What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
We catch up with Felix and Charlotte in mid-break-in in the EON facility with Marshall guiding their movements through the security systems. Time is short, but Felix manages to make it to Mia’s cell before Marshall is locked out of the system.
Felix gets Mia to her feet, and we see wthrough a brief flashback that he’s counting on Mia’s remaking powers to get them out of her cell.
Meanwhile, Charlotte takes a pistol from a knocked-out guard and moves to find Eli for a final confrontation. When they finally meet for some one-on-one time, Charlotte wastes no time pulling the trigger of her pistol repeatedly. It’s then that Eli shows Charlotte exactly how he’s been so successful hunting other EOs.
Before Eli can kill Charlotte, Felix and Mia find them and stun Eli long enough to trap him in a cell. We conclude the issue with a harrowing escape from EON, a look at the team’s new life together, and a new face Charlotte sees in the mirror.
Final Thoughts
EXTRAORDINARY #4 leans on expert character work and dialog to carry a largely predictable plot in the best tradition of “grounded” superhero teams. The action is well-paced, and the outcome is satisfying, although the character anatomies are strangely inconsistent to the point of distraction.
Score: 7.5/10
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