“You are but an arrow set into the air. Your karma is to find your mark.”
Those words – and the imagery of an arrow sailing through the air – resonate through Resurrection Man: Quantum Karma #4. In a way, the idea of an arrow flying through the air is a representation of how Mitch Shelley’s constant cycle of resurrection has led him to a precise moment. In another, it underlines the title. The concept of karma is that the sum of your actions comes to define your fate. Ram V and Anand RK take this to its ultimate level, as the mysterious figure who Shelley met in the afterlife turns out to be a future version of himself…seeking a way to cross through all of time and space to stop the ravenous Gashadokuro from causing an apocalypse.
That sounds like a win-win for all of existence, but V takes a turn by revealing the costs that would come with that victory. Those aren’t costs that Shelley is willing to pay, and he soon ends up in conflict with his former self. But what’s really surprising is the final pages, where Shelley goes to another deep cut DC character for help. Not only is this a character who’s had his own Black Label series, but he’s also the complete opposite of Shelly’s superpowered existence. The fact that V is willing to break genres as well as storytelling traditions is what makes Quantum Karma such a compelling read.
The other half of what makes it a compelling read is RK’s artwork. Every time I think he can’t top himself, he does. An image of Gashadokuro ripping through time results in a truly disturbing visual of flesh and blood spilling across the stars, as if the universe itself has contracted cancer. Another image features the Flash literally peeling apart, somehow topping Barry Allen’s horrifying death in Crisis on Infinite Earths. But the image that sticks most with me is a massive hole in the middle of the sky, tearing open cities and sending people screaming in its wake. The image of an apocalypse is nothing new in superhero fiction, but RK will make readers actually feel the weight of the destruction that’s occurring on the page.
DC
Mike Spicer also fills the pages with eye-melting color. In the opening pages, which take place during the Kurukshestra War, most of the sky is lit up with a golden hue, with the peaceful light serving as a direct contrast to the conflict going on below. In fact, Resurrection Man: Quantum Karma #4 thrives on that contrast of colors. The inky black of the night sky contrasts with Gashadokuro’s raw, red flesh. Future Shelley’s dark red cloak snakes out across the page, filling the blank white space with its folds. This contrast even seeps into Aditya Bidkar’s lettering, since Future Shelley’s captions are the inverse color of his counterparts. If karma is about balance, then this creative team is trying to apply that to its art.
Whether it’s superheroism and sorcery, life and death, or altruism and self-interest, Resurrection Man: Quantum Karma #4 is a story about balance. And while there might be two issues left, there’s plenty of room to keep exploring that dynamic.
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