Publisher: Image Comics
Writer: Kel Symons
Artist: Mathew Reynolds
Release Date: 21st May 2014

When I said it was tough cracking out quality month on month in our review of issue #3, apparently I was wrong, because honestly, The Mercenary Sea is making it look easy.

Reynold’s excellent art continues to be one of the highlights of the series, and here he’s allowed to flex his action muscles once again in a night-time raid that’s as gorgeous as it is exciting. It perhaps speeds along a little too quickly, but it’s an exceptional representation of the chaos of combat – cacophonic bursts of gunfire, followed by moments of utter quiet, and he continues to showcase a supreme talent for contrast.

Symon’s sees fit to subvert this very reviewer’s expectations in with regard to the gender of a particular character, to no detrimental effect – no longer just a MacGuffin, there’s actually the potential for a rather fascinating ‘love in time of war’ courtship between her and our dashing hero Captain Harper, bound together by honour and chemistry both.

There’s also further tantalising hints of the mythic elements mentioned in our previous review – a single plank of wood, with a single word scratched thereon, crystalising a legend into glorious being.

If there’s one criticism to be levelled, it’s that the dialogue on occasion winds up repeating itself, and whilst this is hardly criminal activity, when compared to the smooth flow of the previous three issues, it’s a touch jarring. But then again, there are only so many ways someone can report that they’re being attacked…

Still, it’s with great joy that I can conclude that The Mercenary Sea is continuing its absolutely stellar run. We’ve got a couple of new characters to enjoy, a burgeoning romance, and exciting action in spades. Tally-ho indeed.

Rating: 5/5.

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The writer of this piece was: Ross Sweeney
Ross tweets from @Rostopher24