“Who are we meant to be?” That’s the question Bug Wars #5 asks, as it sends Slade Slaymaker on what might be his most harrowing adventure in the Yard yet. It’s also a question that’s been at the heart of the series. Slade started out as a regular kid, but thanks to the mystical amulet his father once held, and the things he’s experienced in the Yard, he’s starting to learn more about his family. He isn’t the only character who gets a shot at introspection, though.
Throughout Bug Wars #5, Jason Aaron gets to dig deep into what makes every character tick. Slade is determined to fight through the pain to get back to his family, and he goes through a lot of pain in this issue. His brother Sydney, despite being depicted as an antisocial asshole up to this point, is shown to care as much for their mother as Slade does. Even the denizens of the yard are willing to put aside ancient grudges in order to take out the “Annihirazer” (their name for Sydney, who’s killed most of them in an attempt to get revenge for what happened to his and Slade’s father.) It’s this kind of rich character work that’s made Aaron’s comics worth reading, and why Bug Wars has been such a runaway hit.
Bug Wars #5 also contains some of the most compelling, and the most disturbing, images in the series to date. A great example is when the religious zealots known as the Maggot Monks assemble the rest of the bug armies, they do so inside the carcass of a rotting dog. It’s just as horrifying as it sounds; there’s still scraps of flesh hanging onto the dog’s bones, and the poor puppy’s insides are completely covered with maggots. Adding to the creep factor is the Maggot Monks themselves, especially their leader Reverend Rancid, whose flesh has maggots crawling out of it. It also helps that Becca Carey’s work on the back pages offers more insight into what makes the Maggot Monks tick.
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The standout imagery, though, is when Slade travels through the massive web that the spiders live within. Asrar goes full out in making this a compelling, creepy place: sheets of web cover everything as far as the eye can see, and there’s plenty of spiders that attack Slade, tearing at his flesh. It all culminates in a two page spread that is both majestic in its scope, and terrifying in its implications. These pages also feature plenty of the insectoid violence that’s come to define Bug Wars; heads explode and limbs go flying as Slade punches his way out of the web.
Matt Wilson’s colors are a large part of what makes this comic sing. Most of the issue features a strange spectral white, due to the web that Slade’s trapped in. But there’s pockets of color: the center of the web features a golden, hypnotic glow and rivers of venom bubble a bright acid green. In contrast, the “cathedral” of the Maggot Monks is a bright bloody red, hinting at the bloodshed to come and the dark intentions of the monks themselves.
Bug Wars #5 sets the stage for an epic finale, thanks to its compelling carnage and crafty character work. Issue after issue, this continues to be one of the best comics I’ve read this year and I can’t wait to see how it all ends. Judging from Aaron’s afterword, it also sounds like more Bug Wars is on the way, which is genuinely exciting.
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