It’s been six months or so since the last issue, but The Seasons returns this week with issue #9. We left off in a rather scary place, as Spring and Summer have lost their sister, Winter, to the carnival clowns that came to town. Ever persistent, Spring won’t let up, even if her sister Summer is preoccupied with her own life. In a densely packed issue, Rick Remender and Paul Azaceta set in motion a battle of the sisters.
“Densely packed” may actually be an understatement – for example, Spring’s notes are captioned on top of the dialogue between Spring and Summer. The first three pages remind us of what is going on while teasing that Spring may be onto something as far as a solution to their in-town-clown problem. Four pages later, it’s established that the bright and happy circus that was taking over has switched to a gloomy hipster town caked in snow. Winter has taken over, thanks to the circus’s mirrors that show you what you want.
From there, the story takes us weeks into the future, where Spring is concocting a plan but can’t get close to Winter in her evil-queen-style castle tower. The story moves at a fast clip from here, taking us along for the ride as Spring and Summer get info, enact a plan, and get a touch closer to fixing their town.
Summer is oddly not worried about what is going on.
Credit: Image
The charm of Azaceta art continues to flourish in this issue, with lots of fun character interactions and plenty of new characters who are loud in their emotions. Spring is very much on an adventure and acting the part, like blowing bubbles from a pipe, while Summer is oddly unfazed yet tags along with her little sister. It’s an interesting dynamic, even if Summer’s behavior seems a bit too tempered given the circumstances. A beautiful double-page splash of the town caked in snow is a great example of how the town’s transformation feels quite cold and scary.
Aside from Summer’s un-phased nature, the creative team has her doing some pretty cool heroic stuff, particularly with her yellow umbrella. Between the sisters’ antics and their early 1900s England garb, the charm doesn’t stop with this series, even if it’s of a different nature.
The bigger mystery continues to take a back seat to Spring’s actions, although Remender’s captions do a lot to flesh out the vibe of the larger world. Through these captions, he gives us hints as to the fear the town is under, for instance, so that it’s not only the perspective of Spring. These captions also give us insights into Winter’s artistic personality, which has turned the town snowy and cold, adding to the overall premise of what is going on.
The Seasons #9 returns after a long break with an energetic and visually captivating installment that reorients the story while pushing the sisters closer to confronting Winter. As a kind of reset and redirect for the series, The Seasons #9 works quite well. Even new readers can come along for the ride, although they’d surely not want to miss the adventures of the previous issues. While the larger scope of the story takes a backseat, like the ongoing mystery of why the family is a target, the magical charm is impossible to miss. It may not be the best issue yet, but it functions as both a reentry point for returning readers and a reminder of why this series remains such a distinctive fantasy adventure.
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