It’s finally time for a glimpse at Alex’s past in the fifth issue of Otherkin.

What I was totally unprepared for was that Alex’s history is so intertwined with a very specific, regional folklore; not to mention more recent, real world tragedies too. A new character is introduced here who is a direct window into that world, and it’s one that’s treated with the utmost respect and care of the culture, to ensure that it’s not simply a token inclusion or a tacky tourist’s guide to a particular civilization’s mythology.

One of the things that Otherkin does extremely well is dialogue free sequences, and there’s an extended one here. It draws the reader in, focuses the attention on each panel and becomes much more absorbing as a result.

The same, however, can also be said of the sequences which aren’t silent; despite the deliberately minimalistic, Mike Mignola-esque art style (shout out to artist Victor Costa here), there’s a great deal of emotion and detail conveyed in the expressions and body language of each character, not to mention their surroundings.

Writer Marco Vito Oddo also writes a lengthy, but very worthy afterword in this issue. Not only does it fully justify and explain the careful, respectful approach they took in representing a certain people and their history, but it also recommends some phenomenal material with which to familiarise yourself, if the cultural, social and political aspects of the issue pique your interest.

This may well be my favourite issue of the series so far, and given how much I’ve enjoyed each one, that’s really saying something. It’s great to see the lore behind Alex’s powers explored further too, adding texture and detail to their mysterious abilities as well as the mission they find themselves on.

Otherkin #5 is, at the time of writing, currently in the midst of a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign. You can pledge for this and other issues at the comic’s Kickstarter page. Many thanks to Marco Vito Oddo for sending me a digital copy of Otherkin #5 for review purposes.

Hi! I’m Jason, and I write for midlifegamergeek.com, every single day. If you’re interested in supporting original, regularly published, human created content (which has never been plagiarised or otherwise copied from the hard work of other writers), you can donate and help me to keep this site running.

Not only do I earn no income from my writing here (though I may earn small fees from affiliate links posted on my pages; as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases from these links), but it seems that my work has, at times, been stolen and re-used by lazy, morally bankrupt idiots.

There’s no pressure of course, but I’d be truly grateful for any support that you could offer – and it’s easy to do so at either of these links: Ko-Fi.com/geekmid or PayPal.

Any donations are truly appreciated – and I also appreciate you taking the time to read my articles. Remember: this whole article was by Jason Brown, and appeared on midlifegamergeek.com. Take that, Skynet!