Comic Books

‘Dark Spaces: Wildfire’ #3 heats up even amid genuine concerns

This story’s on fire — unless narrative hiccups somehow put it out.

September 13, 2022

I hope if I’ve accomplished absolutely nothing else in my last two reviews, it’s that you understand I think Dark Spaces: Wildfire is deeply important.

Writer Scott Snyder — aided by the excellent art team of Hayden Sherman, colorist Ronda Pattison, and lettering from AndWorld Design — has taken a story about female firefighters robbing a billionaire and turned it into something much more. A powerful meditation on friendship and motherhood; an exploration of life amid the lower and middle class; and how we try to turn tragedy into triumph. While the first issue felt a little sluggish in those efforts, it all really came together in issue #2. So, where does that leave us with issue #3?

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Well, a prime spot to see why this book may be the most personal and important in Snyder’s extensive bibliography.

But first, a quick wrap-up. Issue #2 two saw the crew — once again, that’d be Ma, Brooks, Zinn, Ramos, and Sawyer — almost ready to make it out of the home with their newly-downloaded, ill-gotten gains — only to come face-to-face with a dead body. It seems like the crew’s new lives of freedom and fortune wouldn’t be as breezy as they’d intended, and with that complication comes some real positives and negatives.

For one, as I’d mentioned in both reviews, Snyder’s work to use the five stages of a fire as a narrative framework originally felt a little shaky. That improved with issue #2, and with issue #3, we really hit a high point for that device. The “Flashover” — where the fire suddenly takes control and smashes all your silly plans — feels like a perfect encapsulation of the core of this “chapter”; things haven’t just fallen apart but now we try to see the team really struggle to maintain control. That comes not only in what to do with the aforementioned body, but a fire that breaks out and consumes the house. It’s a really powerful moment from a storytelling perspective to see the crew leap into action to take control of things — it’s a perfect moment explaining why we care about them already.

Variant cover from Molly Murakami. Courtesy of IDW.

That, and more backstory about the squad told expertly via the art, helps us see these characters more developed than ever. And through that development we can really celebrate and cheer for them as they fight for the lives they so richly deserve (again, even if they are technically breaking the law).

That kind of joyous narrative achievement should be a cause for massive celebration — these characters have used years of pain and disappointment to come together in the name of life, and it’s mostly a beautiful thing. Only, Snyder makes some decisions that impact this story. I don’t want to spoil too much, but there’s some new elements tossed in — like the thread of a possible serial killer and the appearance of some especially violent agents — that take some of the steam out of this generally feel-great moment. I get that Snyder just wants to play up the odds against the crew, and maybe wring out more personal truths for our entertainment and own personal development, but they feel like too many storytelling chefs in the kitchen.

In his own way, Snyder has a kind of “Flashover” moment in the latter pages of this issue, and rather than regaining control as brilliantly as the team, he just lets these add-ons distract from the larger accomplishment. It’s felt like a regular element of some his stories, to simply not know when to stop expanding on storylines and character arcs. I think back to something like “Court of Owls” story from Batman, which had a solid core even if it felt like it kept going on some levels.

Variant cover from Gabriel Rodriguez. Courtesy of IDW.

It’s here that I’d like to mention the art a little more. Because, yeah, it remains beautiful as always — Sherman and Pattison once more work their combined visual magic together to create some genuinely great moments. That includes the intro bit, where we see the crew’s early lives in vivid and poignant detail, as well as the scene where they fight the fire, which plays up the humanity while also making for some peak action film-style shots/angles. But of all the accomplishments of the art within this issue, the greatest has to be with the mid-issue story from Ma about her daughter and some collectible toys.

Sure, it’s another great moment of character development — Ma’s whole angle is really the driving force of the emotions and larger narrative structure of this story. But it all felt a little abrupt and somewhat impeded the flow of the story — another Snyder “trademark” of storytelling that just shows how needlessly complicated his decision-making can sometimes become. But there’s a kind of surrealness and almost magical quality to its actual visual depiction, and the art team breezes by the obstacle (for the most part) and turn it into an instance that, while diminished somewhat, really empowers the story. It’s another moment in this series thus far of the visual prowess at play, and it shows not only how skilled the art team is, but how so much of this story depends on the art to uplift, edit, and enhance.

Variant cover from Andrea Sorrentino. Courtesy of IDW.

You might guess by now that I might’ve actually disliked this issue. But again, in the name of true clarity, I want you to know I genuinely loved it. No, scratch that — it’s perhaps my favorite of the three so far. Are some of the issues mentioned here glaring sore spots? For sure — Snyder could be on the verge of overwhelming a compact little story about fighting for your life and friendship with more needless tropes. But that might not happen, especially if the art team keeps playing its exceptional “support” role and helping address some of Snyder’s more distracting tendencies. Plus, it’s almost been nice to see Snyder work out his craft in something resembling real-time; the man knows stories, and even when he falters a bit, it all feels significant.

But even if I did wish the whole issue ended a few pages earlier, I accept it warts and all for being an exceptional entry in a genuinely great story. None of that makes me less anxious for the final issues, but that’s just been part of a truly engaging story from a deeply talented team.