Damn, it's a dark week, comic-wise. Get ready.
Kill Your Darlings #1: Whoa, this series isn't kidding. When burning a witch at the stake is an issue's least creepy event, you know you've got a road ahead.
The issue begins with the aforementioned burning, which happens in 1692. The alleged witch in question begs her father to save her, to which he simply responds, "It must be done."
We then immediately move to 1995 and the imaginary land of our protagonist, Rose. She's a warrior princess surrounded by her loyal subjects (i.e., her stuffed animals) and wielding the mighty sword, Francine. Her favorite stuffed animal is Wallace, an elephant dressed in safari gear and who speaks in an Australian accent.
Deciding General Slithers' army is too strong, she calls time and seeks help from her mother. The bright colors of Rose's imaginary land (dubbed Rosewood) fade to the sepia tones of reality as we overhear her mother trying to renegotiate a bill. Rose's mother seems a doting one, regretting that she can't play with Rose as she has to call more people to whom she owes money. In an attempt to lighten the mood, she suggests pancakes for dinner. Rose grabs some aluminum foil and creates the Silver Flame of Kichendror, which prophecy says is important. She tasks some of her best stuffed animals...er, troops...to guard it.
After winning the war, Rose invites her enemies from the Isle of Monsters to a party, though Wallace reminds her she should focus on some disappearances in the North. Disturbingly, Rose tells Wallace she doesn't remember them, though their conversation is interrupted her mom knocks on the door to tell her to go to bed. Rose wants to leave on her lava lamp, but Rose's mom tells her that she can only keep it going five minutes because it's a fire hazard.
The next day, Rose's friend Elliott shares some Beat-em-Beasts cards he found at the mall. She updates him on Rosewood signing the peace treaty. Her friend asks why she never plays in his world, to which she replies it doesn't make sense. He agrees. She mentions Wallace's comment about the disappearances, and Elliott says he has to help his dad with his mother, who's apparently sick. Elliott goes home but, before departing, tells Rose to tell her mom that she needs cards so they can battle.
At home, Rose looks for her mom, finding her apron from work and some still smoldering cigarettes. Her mom tells her she's too tired to play, so Rose goes to her room. Shit gets weird here. Rose appears to lose control of her body as she smashes the crayon she used to draw the party she held for the monsters. The drawing now depicts all her subjects dead, and, in the imaginary world, Rose sees the blood and a crumbling castle. In the real world, someone has torn her stuffed animals limb from limb.
Rose makes her way into the basement where a voice speaks to her, It's in a creepy black and yellow word bubble, telling her that a "great and terrible evil swept through this land" and that it "took pleasure in the deaths of your friends." Terrifyingly, its large hands emerge from the cave where Rose confronts it in her imaginary land, confirming the voice belongs to the great and terrible evil. Before we can see it fully, Rose bolts, only to find her castle in flames.
Suddenly, in reality, Elliott is shaking Rose as she stands outside in the rain. His dad asks if she's OK but, then, disturbingly, utters, "Did you...what did you do?" Someone mentions she heard screaming, and Rose turns to the burning house, asking where her mom is.
The authors do a great job of making it really unclear what the truth - if there is one - is. For example, they provide a number of options on how the fire started, from Rose's lava lamp to her mom's cigarettes to a crazed (or possessed) Rose setting it. It's also connected to the fire that burned the "witch," making her a possible Rose descendant. I'm not sure how all these threads are going to come together, but the authors clearly are, which is exciting.
The Sacrificers #2: In typical Remender fashion, this issue goes in a different direction than you expect.
The sacrificers' chain gang arrives in a village filled with shark-like humanoids, who are ecstatic to see them. A priest opens a temple doors to reveal "Noom and her holy wardens." Noom walks down a green carpet as the citizens bless her and the harvest, calling her the "Luminous One" and "Messiah of Hope." As you can imagine, Pigeon looks on these festivities with confusion. The gang's foreman asks if Noom gives herself freely, and she offers her wrists to him.
The gang then trudges through a variety of environments; at one point, a farmer takes his daughter's hand and runs when she asks who they are. At camp that night, one of the sacrificers ask what they're sacrificing, prompting the exchange of several gruesome hypotheses: "they'll" feed them to an Aquatica's gargantuan in the Gloom Sea, they'll fight each other in the Luna arena, "they'll" bleed them out slowly in a "macabre ritual. A blond, feral human child says they're all fools: they're going to march them over the Veil Cliffs and throw them into a volcano to "burn in Rokos' light," which seems plausible based on last issue.
Noom tells them to be silent so everyone can eat in peace, and Pigeon reveals a scrap of bread that he has left. Noom pities that he has so little food, and Pigeon sheepishly says his sister gave it to him. A ginger, feral human child threatens to beat Pigeon for it, and Noom tells Red to eat her own food. Red says she was raised in a cage, watching five other children starve to death in front of her. Blond says he was tossed into a pit on his third birthday to eat rats and moss.
Appalled, Noom reveals a horde of food that her people sent with her, and the children launch themselves at it. Noom is stunned, noting that they are connected to the "destiny of life" itself and their chains simply represent their devotion to God. According to her, the "sacrifice" is they'll never again see their families. No one will kill them: they're going to run the mortal Senate for the gods. The feral children laugh at her, and Red says each family sacrifices a child to underscore the gods are boss. (Again, after seeing them last issue, I'll buy that.) She attacks Noom, but Pigeon stops her, saying they're all scared because they don't know their fate.
On the harrowing climb the next day, Noom insists to Pigeon that it's a test of their devotion, though she's shaken when they put hoods over their heads. Later, a voice tells them to let go of who they were as the hoods are removed and a paradise-like room awaits them, prompting Noom to tell them she was right. It's Remender, though, so she clearly isn't.
Star Wars: Dark Droids #2: Soule moves us into the logical next phase as the Scourge decides that he needs to take over the “meat” now that he’s succeeded in taking over the “metal.”
Through the Scourge's narration, we learn he came close to taking over the meat the last time he was conscious, but a group of Sith (interesting not just *two* Sith, hinting at his age) stopped him and imprisoned him in the Fermata Cage. He makes it clear that a hunger drives him, one he knows the metal alone can’t sate on its own. His goal is take over all the metal and meat so that, at that point, he won’t need to feed any longer. (I’ll note here that we don’t know who programmed the Scourge, though you may know if you read “Star Wars: Doctor Aphra.”)
The Scourge is aware of someone named Fyzen Gor and his efforts to create cyborgs, but he can’t find enough information about him. As such, he decides to pursue the Force to accomplish his plans, since it’s what stopped him last time. He takes over Threepio and spaces Artoo and then uses Threepio to interrogate Luke about the Force. Luke says he believes the Force flows through droids as living things though he isn’t aware of a droid ever using the Force. The Scourge asks if he feels the Force through his artificial hand, calling him a cyborg. Luke answers that he doesn’t really feel the Force localized in that way and takes umbrage at the idea that he’s a cyborg, telling "Threepio" that he isn’t like Darth Vader. Now aware of Vader, the Scourge sets his sight on Vader, the perfect combination of metal with Force-wielding meat. Ruh-roh.
Meanwhile, Ajax dispatches Gertee to destroy the Star Destroyer where the Scourge resides, hoping to end its threat before the meat discover the Second Revelation’s existence. The Scourge also hopes to act before the meat can end him, an interesting unifying concept for them: avoid the destructive meat at all cost.
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