Savage #4 Review: Revenge, Best Served With Dinosaurs
By Matt Conner
Savage wraps up the first miniseries with a classic and inventive revenge plot, but that cliffhanger makes sure the story won’t stop there!
Savage #4
Written by B Clay Moore
Art by Clayton Henry and Lewis LaRosa
Colors by Brian Reber and Andrew Dalhouse
Published by Valiant Entertainment
Savage #4 cover by Lewis LaRosa
Savage impressed us with a strong opening chapter, and the first story closes this week. We’ve seen baby Sauvage come of age on a bizarre island full of dinosaurs. He lost his father to a hungry monster. Then he lost his mother to an equally grotesque human being, the leader of a terrible tribe all too happy to play Lord Of The Flies. Now, he has to finish growing up and move to his next chapter. And it’s a doozy.
B. Clay Moore has impressed us with his ideas of how to tell this original story. His pages move an incredible amount of action with minimal printed language. The realistic textures of Lewis LaRosa’s work pull the reader in for a slow read through the muck of a skinny kid hunting raptors and mercenaries. In contrast, the classic super hero lines of Clayton Henry idealize that kid’s tragic past. And this week, both styles combine for a revenge finale pulling everything Sauvage has learned in flashback into the modern story. The colors shine, pulling more of the storytelling duties in the absence of text bubbles. When a writer trusts his art team like this, magic happens.
Moore promised to tie this book into the larger Valiant Universe with this issue, and he delivers with a jaw-dropping final panel. No spoilers, but when the next miniseries drops, get ready for a significant culture clash.
Savage #4 cover by Marguerite Sauvage