Dirty Work At The Crossroads #4 is a comic written by Joshua Metzger with art by Carlos Nieto. We finally get the whole backstory between Mother and Queen Mab and things get gruesome. The story has a lot of fighting and trickery and a number of interesting turns. This comic has three main characters and they are all women. We have two women who lead opposing groups of people in Queen Mab and Mother, and a woman who finds herself caught in the middle named Sunday Childs. The plot has shifted from ruler to ruler but this time we find Miss Childs has an audience with Queen Mab. This interaction leads to some revelations and new perspectives. Issue for issue this has been a pretty action-packed series but this one is easily the most gruesome. Most of the fight scenes here are hand-to-hand. The dialogue is full of quick comments and snarky responses. This issue is giving some backstory so it does get wordy but that’s early on in the issue and things pick up after that. This is another strong issue in a series that has had consistent action and a strong plot.

            This is a highly detailed comic with a color palette of mostly post-apocalyptic hues with the occasional splash of something bright. This only hits two locations, the main one being a research facility-like place with the gray walls and lack of significant features. This is a very expressive comic due to the high amount of detail in the faces and bodies. The characters talk with the whole face, throw in some exaggerated arm movement, and even have the little quick looks that add to their words. There isn’t any face sameness here, and these characters have had rough lives so their faces aren’t exactly unblemished. The creatures here have good muscle definition and the more mutated folk have nice little oddities about them. The outfits look like ones you might see in a wasteland environment or something off of Star Wars. This issue showcases some heavy action with great scene flow and a good amount of gore. It can dip into Mortal Kombat territory a bit. There is a lady who walks around topless but I wouldn’t say she is especially sexualized. Unless you really like blood.

“Is this worth reading?”

Yes.

“Would I like this?”

If you like post-apocalyptic tales with all the major players being women and incorporating heavy sci-fi elements with a good plot this is for you.

“What would this comic’s film rating be?”

R. Guts galore.

“Could I get a quote from the comic?”

“Yes, you were correct. It is fast acting.”

 

Digital Link: https://nosleeppress.gumroad.com/l/myigz

Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1654060790/dirty-work-at-the-crossroads-4-a-post-apocalyptic-tale/description

Indiegogo Link: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/dirty-work-at-the-crossroads-4/x/26236710#/

***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***

Probably Contains Spoilers

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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 23

Violent Pages: 9, for 39% of the comic

Sexy Pages: 0, for 0% of the comic

 

**The levels below aren’t necessarily maintained throughout the whole comic, but they were definitely reached**

 

Violence Level – 3

“Wasn’t no tussling at all.”

“Sometimes you gotta hit somebody.”

“I’m getting charged with how many counts of assault?”

“This was a tournament arc.”

“All my life I had to fight.”

 

Gore Level – 5

“The only thing leaking out your face is tears.”

“Looks like somebody spilled some ketchup.”

“Might need to soak that up with a bath towel.”

“That isn’t supposed to be outside the body.”

“This is a slaughterhouse.”

 

Death Level – 3

“And everybody lived happily ever after.”

“We might have gone to a couple funerals.”

“It just LOOKS like a serial killer was here.”

“Yeah this was a tragedy.”

“Think Gettysburg.”

 

Porn Level – 2

“Everybody kept their clothes on.”

“I guess it was too hot for a bra.”

“Sometimes you got to let everything air out.”

“This is like late night Cinemax in the early 2000’s.”

“Oh. This is porn.”