Mercenary Sea, The #4

Published by: Image Comics
Released on: May 21, 2014
Writer: Kel Symons
Artist: Mathew Reynolds
Cover: Mathew Reynolds
Purchase at Amazon

Jack and his sub crew, along with “Commander Graham,” show up a little too late to save the British spy “Top Hat” from the hands of the Japanese, as last issue's cliff-hanger ended with the spy being sliced by a Japanese officer, execution style. But… it turns out that wasn't Top Hat, and Graham wasn't being exactly forthright with the information he gave to Jack concerning the spy.

The Chinese village Top Hat was hiding out in while awaiting rescue was invaded by the Japanese and a number of girls and women were taken captive. This weighs heavily on one of the party members and Jack doesn't like it either, so the mission to save Top Hat turns into something more. While getting down and dirty in the fishing village Jack finds further evidence of the lost island he's looking for (from issue #1's story setup), but it's not a whole lot. But no time for that…incoming!

But it isn't over there. The party meets up with someone else who is quite familiar with Jack and can help the crew on their new mission, but first Jack must do something for him before any assistance will be given. And just to convince them further that they need to save the women, this new “ally”, Chen Xie, lets them know the women are to be sold as sex slaves.

That's all you need to know. This issue is every bit as gratifying as the last issue and the ones before it. It's good old fashioned, high-adventure story telling with a pulp magazine gusto that has yet to slow down, has yet to drag, and has yet to cause the rolling of eyes. Actually the eyes never stop moving, jumping around all over the page, soaking it all in. The artwork is yet again amazing in style and in the use of colors. Reynolds' stuff just leaps off the page and is absolutely 100 percent magnificent. The colors are so intense they almost have a fragrance.

Good God I love this series. When I die, I want to come back as a Mathew Reynolds splash page. Well, not really. But almost.