Rasputin #4

By Alex Grecian, Riley Rossmo and Ivan Plascencia

The way the timeline in Rasputin has progressed, it’s starting to look like this series might not have the longevity that one might have expected when first jumping into this book. That’s not a bad thing, of course, because there might not be anything worse than a series that continues on far too long after it’s run its course, but at the same time Rasputin has been so good and if we don’t end up getting a larger run it’s going to be a damn shame. Conundrum, isn’t it?

Well, let’s enjoy it while we’ve got it. Writer Alex Grecian certainly continues to pour it on with Rasputin as he explores his powers and what kind of a backlash they might have on him after he uses them. It’s an interesting piece to the puzzle and would certainly help explain some of the strange quirks of Rasputin that have been written down in the history books. Really, it’s an excellent little, almost subtle, hint to the character and the real man who all but ran Russia in the early 1900s.

Once again, Riley Rossmo and colorist Ivan Plascencia impress on art. Pay particular attention to Rossmo’s architecture once more in this issue as his eye for design and his apparent hours of studying this period have paid off immensely. It was probably mentioned before, but a double page spread like that, that some might lazily flip past on their way to more story progression, is one of those comic gems that needs to be poured over and studied. Plascencia’s colors, of course, continue to take Rossmo’s work to the next level. The stark contrasting styles between the past and the present are utterly fantastic, and of course his depictions of Rasputin’s supernatural powers are always amazingly executed and crafted.

A couple of very large things happen in this issue, particularly for the history of Rasputin if you know it, and you can’t help but feel it’s all leading to something bigger even if, as mentioned at the start, this series is destined to finish its story sooner rather than later. Not being one to pay any attention to the numbers, hopefully Rasputin is getting the sales it deserves because it really is a special book. Grecian, Rossmo and Plascencia are hitting every note, every single time they release an issue. Rasputin might be a bit of a dark horse amongst a lot of the other Image titles available right now, but it’s one that surely demands and deserves your attention.