Comic Review: Oblivion Song #5

Oblivion Song #5

Image Comics

Writer: Robert Kirkman

Artist: Lorenzo De Felici

Oblivion Song has had quite the four issues to lead up to this one, so sit down and let me catch you up. Careful…this is spoiler territory.

Deep breath…

We are introduced to Nathan Cole, a man who crosses over into another dimension and brings people back to the current one. There was an event 10 years ago that caused 300,000 people to go missing in the Philadelphia area. These people turned out to be in another dimension called “Oblivion”. Oblivion is full of monsters and post-apocalyptic scenery. The government ran a program to rescue survivors from the other dimension. After failing to keep finding anyone else they shut down the program. Now Nathan travels to the other dimension on his own to rescue as many people as he can. We learn that Nathan is responsible for his brother, Ed, being in the other dimension and most people claim he only goes back to look for his brother. We have seen him rescue survivors and speak to people he rescued in the past to see how they are adjusting. From the perspective of the people living in Oblivion, Nathan is a cloaked intruder who is kidnapping people against their will. So they plot to trap the cloaked man on his next visit and trap him they do.

That is the ULTIMATE recap, so let’s discuss this issue, shall we? When this issue opens, we already know that Nathan is being taken to the group’s leader, who happens to be Ed. I won’t spoil this brotherly reunion for you. On the flip side, back on Earth, the military has shown up to look deeper into what Nathan has been doing while unchecked and jumping dimensions. This arc is ramping up and just getting more interesting with each issue.I am a Kirkman fan through and through and he never seems to disappoint with his writing. He seems to effortlessly create these universes and characters that we buy into. Oblivion Song is no different. There is so much happening on so many levels. Is he wrongfully kidnapping people from Oblivion? Is he saving people and reuniting families? Should his work be policed? Is he ruining lives? There is so much to ask. Oblivion is the main focus here and rightfully so. Compared to what is happening on Earth, Oblivion is pure adventure and wonder and mostly danger. You WANT to see Nathan and Ed meet up. You WANT to see the outcome and what they have to say to one another. Kirkman just writes naturally and knows how to create a flawed hero/villain and all of these characters are flawed. To his credit, it all works. People should be reading Oblivion Song. It is near and dear to Kirkman’s heart and it shows.Lorenzo De Felici is not the most known name, but Kirkman was adamant about him doing the artwork on this series. Let just say…I don’t love his artwork. His splash pages are where he shines, but his character art is just not for me. He is also in charge of generating the many creatures we meet in Oblivion, and on that, he is hit or miss. He has a blank canvas for this. He is creating monsters in a new world with no rules, but some of these beasts are just uninspired. Some of them just seem…boring. Some have very little detail. In actuality, a number of his panels have very little detail. He is a capable artist, but he just isn’t always the most creative.

In summary, Oblivion Song is still worth picking up because of Kirkman. His storytelling abilities are on point with the best writers currently in the business. Oblivion Song is a simple premise with complex morals. People picking up this series because of his name shouldn’t be disappointed.