It’s been a great time in comics for penultimate issues. From the elegance of Briar to the depth and power of Blow Away, there’s something in the air when it comes to these pre-finale issues.
Now, Ain’t No Grave is positioning its fourth of five issues. And while the series maybe started a little tenuously, it’s been on a solid run — issue #3, especially, was this great, hugely emotional chapter in Ryder’s journey to meet up with Death itself. The issue repurposed that “old” trope of gambling with your life in a way that showed that the book could buck expectations with its heart, intensity, and sheer emotional resonance.
So, does Ain’t No Grave #4 join the club of truly great penultimate issues, or has it lost all that momentum and power before the mighty conclusion? Fortunately, it’s another solid contender as Ain’t No Grave #4 speaks volumes without ever saying a word.
And I mean it — this is almost an entirely dialogue-free issue. (Save for two very important words, but more on the later.) And, on the one hand, I did have some minor hesitations once I realized we were basically “Hush” – ing it. Because writer Skottie Young’s dialogue so far has been really sharp — not only in giving direction and shape to Ryder and the specific kind of anger she’s grappling with, but how he’s able to hint at the layers of her marriage or some thread of story lore in this world. Those features/components, especially, offered some added sting or bittersweet quality to a rather direct story that we’ve seen before (call it “cowpoke riding on a trail of vengeance”). There’s also some great undercurrents of humor in the dialogue — little hints of Ryder’s stubbornness or her overall wit in this dire situation, and that added some great layers and textures to her sojourn.
Still, I think you could feel Young’s singular presence throughout. And not just as the writer, as he clearly would’ve plotted and structured the story. No, I think it’s in the fleeting glimpses of hope across Ryder’s face, or the way that music hung in the air as a kind of guide for Ryder in this final leg of her long road. These pops of deep humanity, tinged with a kind of charm and magic, that showed us this important energy or presence guiding Ryder toward wherever she think she needed to go. And those bits made all the difference in key parts — it connected this story to its previous chapters through that sense of emotion and poignancy. Even as this issue felt darker, deeper, and more dire, there was a small light to be followed. Through that, then, we were able to maintain that connection and alignment as this issue represented a giant surge forward creatively, emotionally, etc.
Main cover by Jorge Corona. Courtesy of Image Comics.
Given that this was a wordless issue, the bulk of attention fell to the art team of artist Jorge Corona and colorist Jean-Francois Beaulieu. Across the other three issues of Ain’t No Grave, the pair have really killed it, and so much of the heft and power of this story came from just this uniquely dark but nonetheless fantastical take on the Wild West. This issue of Ain’t No Grave wasn’t seemingly all that different, and what we got was a chance to enjoy the purity of this world without dialogue and narration.
In that way, what really works about the visuals of this story really shone through. The stinging emotions, for instance — we could feel the palpable rage and disgust as Ryder cut her hair in a flashback. The way that they mirrored events in the past and present; it shows how much (or how little) Ryder has grown, and we get this clear sense of an arc or trajectory and whether we’re supposed to feel some level of pride and/or disappointment as she struggles with her temper or finds some quiet bit of strength or even self-awareness. Yes, the narration and dialogue offer structure and direction, but the art team are still able to strip away some of that for this pure distillation of the core themes and ideas at the center of Ain’t No Grave — the overwhelming sense of loss, the rebelliousness against all that you know to be true, and even how rage can be both a weapon and a hindrance.
It was a chance to see this world with a clarity and sharpness we hadn’t before, and it just made it all land with that much force. It made the only words in this book (a simple greeting, really) land with both explosive heft and a powerful sense of grace.
Variant cover by Skottie Young. Courtesy of Image Comics.
At the same time, we got some new things from a visual perspective across this issue. There were a couple mysterious characters who provided direction and facilitated the important introduction for Ryder. We’ve already gotten great lore in this book, but these two were a pretty powerful encapsulation of the supernatural layers at work in Ain’t No Grave. Sort of like Frankenstein’s-monster-meets-zombies, it’s just a powerful way to peel back the layers even further and show us what’s awaiting Ryder as she delves deeper into the shadows. A reminder of how much there’s a familiarity of her path (she’s no stranger to surly men in her way) that’s nonetheless scary, and that dynamic is really interesting.
It imbues her journey with terror but maintains it as just another aspect of her peculiar life. As if she’s been on this road forever, and the stranger and darker it gets, we can’t tell if she’s on the right path or if she’s doomed, and that is such a vital thread from a thematic standpoint. It’s enhanced by one particularly lovely and haunting destination — a place of great death but also beauty that should give Ryder pause. But instead she keeps on going, and it’s delightfully difficult to tell if she’s made the right call or she’s too dumb to leave the path of damnation.
There’s only one way to actually find out: follow Ryder as she finishes her journey in September’s issue #5. I have some ideas about how her “big meeting” may go, but even still it’s hard to tell how things will ultimately land for Ryder and Ain’t No Grave in general.
Still, after this issue, things feel really raw and also hugely exciting, a wonderfully tumultuous mix of ideas and emotions that have us and the characters primed for an extra powerful finale. Whether Ryder “wins” or not is secondary, as this book has already achieved its goals of getting us to think about life, death, and what it all means when there’s only so much time and energy on the table. Penultimate? Try ultimately pretty dang good.
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