Unborn #4, from Source Point Press on January 9th, 2022, records the first days and the last days of Captain Mia Trang’s career as she fights to escape the deadly planet with Earth’s last hope for energy supplies and her unborn child.
The Details
- Written By: Frank Gogol
- Art By: Ev Cantada
- Colors By: Ev Cantada
- Letters By: Sean Rinehart
- Cover Art By: Maan House
- Cover Price: $1.99 (digital)
- Release Date: January 9, 2022
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Was It Good?
UNBORN #4 brings the arc (possibly the series) to a close with an extreme mix of a whiz-bang action on a Kaiju scale and a quiet diatribe filled with introspection. If that sounds like a mix of stories for the two extremes of the spectrum, you’d be right.
The action is big and bombastic. Giant mechs fighting giant monsters is generally a sure-fire hit with any sci-fi story, and so the creative team pulls off a finale before the finale to get Captain Trang off the planet as the sole survivor of her crew. The action is fast-paced and big, but to be fair, it leans a little close to cartoonish with her ship transforming into a mech robot that loses its arm in the fight. Repairing the arm alone should have taken weeks or months, assuming she had the right equipment, and that point sullies the science fiction authenticity for Power Rangers levels of silliness.
The quiet introspection comes by way of a series of log entries where Captain Trang recounts her time growing up in a foster home. The narrative is well-written, almost moving. You get a very deep appreciation for Cpt. Trang as a character, which gives the outcome of the issue more weight. That said, the log entries are very long prose not accompanied by art, so in effect, half of this comic is simply words on paper and technically not a comic. Some may like the novelty of combining two story formats. Others may not.
Ev Cantada continues to be a good pairing for this story, especially due to the silliness inherent in the big battle. Cantada intentionally draws with low detail for the designs, which helps keep readers from examining the science fiction elements too closely. The art works for this type of story, and that’s always the goal.
If you’re still wondering if we thought it’s good or not, we thought it was okay. It got the job done. How much or how little you love this story is up to you.
What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
It’s been a while since the last issue, so catch up on the deadly outcomes leading to the finale in our UNBORN #3 review.
We catch up with Cpt. Trang in the cavern she foolishly charged into to rid the planet of the zombie scorpions (our name for the aliens since they’re not officially named in the comic). Using the protection of her armor and her weapons, she lays waste to every critter she can find before heading back to the ship. before she reaches her destination, the ground begins to rumble uncontrollably, and a giant zombie scorpion bursts through the ground to attack.
Back on the ship, Cpt. Trang activates the ship’s defense system, transforming the ship into a giant fighting mech. It’s monster versus alien for survival, and while they both take their licks, Cpt. Trang remains victorious.
As the battle rages and pages turn, readers are given page-long log entries from Cpt. Trang about her life growing up as an orphan and receiving the motherly assistance of the home’s social worker, Wendy. The two share a growing bond that shapes Cpt. Tran through her teenage years and into adulthood.
We conclude the issue with not one but two surprise twists that end one story and begin another.
Unborn #4 Unborn #4 Unborn #4
Final Thoughts
UNBORN #4 brings the arc to a close with a desperate battle against a giant monster, a heartfelt retelling of a troubled childhood made whole, and alien tropes galore. The big action is big albeit a bit silly, the log history is emotionally powerful albeit not a comic, and the ending gets the job done albeit in a cliché manner. In all, this is a serviceable end to a decent science fiction story.
Score: 7.5/10
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