Stillwater # 5
Image Comics
Creator/Writer: Chip Zdarsky
Creator/Artist: Ramon K Perez
Colorist: Mike Spicer
Letterer: Rus Wooton
Ducks on a pond. That is the ultimate feeling I have as the first arc of Image Comics Stillwater ends. Despite an explosive culmination to a courtroom discussion, I can’t help but feel so much is still hidden beneath the surface.
This issue has Daniel, or Tommy Quinn which Mrs. Lillow reminds him is his name, accompany his mother to a town meeting. While the Judge attempts to handle this business as ususal, Dr. Walsh takes the opportunity to present the “Welcome Party” request.
The creators of this series have done an excellent job of presenting a simple situation through a supernatural scenario. Stillwater feels like any town attempting to avoid it’s natural beauty or “treasures” being destroyed by the outside world. It has a judge who is all powerful, and a Unity group loyal to his rule. Powerful people attempting to remain in power is a simple enough story… add in the Lazarus factor and it’s worth killing over.
While Stillwater’s citizens may have reconciled with the fact they can’t die, that fact makes this issue’s action sequence so callous. Witnessing a bailiff unleash a bevy of bullets in a courtroom without a sense of hesitation is such a dramatic scene even if everyone will survive their wounds. This creative team captured the chaos in this courtroom sequence amazingly. I felt the fear and loss, not of life per say but of what makes it worth living… freedom.
Something happened in Stillwater years ago. Daniel is the evidence, whatever this event is, it is not permanent. Stillwater # 5 proves it’s easy to confuse someone who is doing the right thing with someone trying to stay in control.