Pneumatic Cases #4 is a comic created and written by John Wilson with art by Rowel Roque. We’ve reached the finale in this steampunk murder mystery and the drama is present. While this issue tones down the excitement a little it is still very intriguing and suspenseful. Our crime-solving couple are the prestigious Percy and Annie Ravenscroft; two very intelligent people who flirt at nearly every opportunity. A couple of the supporting characters here are Lieutenant Henri Lastraud and Queen Victoria; both of whom have interesting relationships with Lady Ravenscroft. Have you ever seen a British murder mystery? You know how when things wind down we get a nice wrapping of the story and an explanation on why that person didn’t do it and why this person did? Well that happens here and as a result the action level of this issue is much lower than the others, but not zero. This is well-paced and scenes are usually the perfect length. This issue also has heavy dialogue that moves smoothly for the most part but can get a bit wordy and feel bogged down on some pages. The back-and-forths have a humorous tilt and our leads will be flirting. This is the final issue in this murder mystery series that’ll provide proper closure while not completely ruling out future installments.

            The art level in this comic varies from high detail to just enough. The colors here err on the brighter side and the range is a bit reserved. Though many locations are visited here some stand out and persist throughout the scene while others appear once and leave us with solid colored panels until we leave. This comic is very expressive though the impact of that is very dependent on the detail in the faces at the time. Sometimes we can see wrinkles and high-definition features while other times they only have just enough drawn to qualify it as a face. It tends to lean more towards the higher end. This is a steampunk story so expect to see interesting looking gear. The action scenes are relatively easy to follow but you will be curious as to how they got to panel x from panel y. The dress here is mostly Victorian, though I’m too sure about how common top hats with goggles were.

“Is this worth reading?”

Yes.

“Would I like this?”

If you like murder mysteries starring loving couples in a steampunk Europe with lots of witty remarks this is for you.

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

PG-13. Violence and subject matter.

“Could I get a quote from the comic?”

“Well someone has tried to kill us at least four times this week.”

 

Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/brantfowler/pneumatic-cases-1-3-sleuthing-steampunk-spouses/description

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

Probably Contains Spoilers

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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 25

Violent Pages: 3, for 12% 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 – 2

“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 – 1

“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 – 1

“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 – 1

“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.”