In TOUCHING EVIL #16, available from Source Piont Press on August 25th, 2021, things get complicated when the only survivor of the Cassette Street shootout wakes up, and Nick has to make a painful choice, and Nathaniel Marshall’s sins are revealed.
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The Details
- Written By: Dan Dougherty
- Art By: Dan Dougherty
- Colors By: Emily Zelasko, Wesley Wong
- Letters By: Dan Dougherty
- Cover Art By: Dan Dougherty
- Cover Price: $3.99
- Release Date: August 25, 2021
Was It Good?
This is a case of a comic that wants to tell a LOT of story from multiple threads all at once, and it becomes overwhelming. The narrative in each thread is very well done, but there’s so much going on, you start to lose track.
It may sound pretentions to insuate there’s “too much story,” but that’s the feeling you’re left with by the end of this latest installment. The main plot is squarely focused on the only survivor of the Cassette Street shootout and fire (jump to the next section to find out who it is), and after that, you have four completely separate sub-plots happening.
Again, the sub-plots and main plot are well-written, but it’s a struggle to get through because this issue lacks focus trying to cram it all in at the same time.
What I do like about the story is the emotional weight Dougherty slyly builds into each scene. Every character is either angry, desperate, grief-stricken, confused or some combination thereof. It’s always a plus for a creator to successfully project emotion on the page, and it’s even better when you can get the reader to empathize with the characters through their own dilemmas. Dougherty gets emotional writing, and despite the criticism of the complicated plotting, the emotion is what keeps you invested in the story.
The art is very good. There’s a cinematic quality to the art that makes it stand out from typical comic book fare. To be fair, there’s a little copy/paste happening here where some panels have the same images identically repeated, but that could be a forgivable shortcut to save time. You could picture this comic playing out on a screen, and if that was the intent, it was successful.
Overall, this is a well-written and emotionally impactful story with decent art, but the plot is weighed down by juggling too many plots all at once.
What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
Don’t pass on into limbo until you read our TOUCHING EVIL #15 review first.
We begin with a hospital doctor greeting a patient waking up from surgery. We learn it’s Shay Wells’s granddaughter. Two police detectives (later implied to be dirty cops) have come to question her about the Cassette Street fire and shootout. They inform her her grandmother is dead and there’s only one survivor from the fire.
Cut to a secret meeting between Barr and his staff over the disastrous events on Cassette Street. The assassination of Mayor Cassidy did NOT go as planned, and the group discusses how to salvage their efforts.
We move to Oliver in limbo still talking with the nurse who tried to kill the fire survivor in the hospital. Oliver comes to the revelation that he’s not dead and that he’s the survivor. His mother passed the curse on to him.
Oliver mentally forces himself to wake up as the corrupt detectives pay him a visit. Unaware of the curse, both detectives die as soon as they touch him. Hospital orderlies enter the room when they hear the commotion, and Oliver, now healing almost immediately, throws himself out a window to the street below and runs away.
At this point, we’re only halfway through the issue. Without spoiling too much, Nick receives a call about Oliver and takes the news badly, Nathaniel Marshall’s manipulative plan is revealed, Oliver receives help from a stranger, and Brody Brown explains how he can put a stop to everything.
Whew!
Final Thoughts
TOUCHING EVIL #16 is rich, emotionally impactful storytelling, but the issue has so many threads going all at once, the story quickly loses focus. The art has a grounded, cinematic quality that feels relatable while still having a wow moment or two. It’s a good comic and it has a promising future, but the threads need to start coming together without making readers feel like they have to take notes to keep track of what’s going on.
Score: 7/10
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