REVIEW: ‘Plunge,’ Issue #5

Plunge #5 is published by DC Comics under the Hill House imprint, written by Joe Hill, art by Stuart Immonen, colors by Dave Stewart, and letters by Deron Bennett. Having received the alien’s ultimatum, the crew must now decide what to do. And they need to decide fast. Sunrise isn’t far off. But even with the pressure mounting, how much will they be willing to risk to get the answers they need?

Plunge #5 reaches the point in our horror story where desperate gambles are made, and characters show their true colors. Where the stark contrast between those who self sacrifice and those who are self interested is brought to light. Hill executes this pivotal moment in the story well. He gives every character their time, and utilizes each in a way that stays true to their personalities. I especially loved Gage in this issue. The gruff, non nonsense, hard exterior, but inside is a truly compassionate person captain of the ship steals the show in Plunge #5 for me.

While the crew works toward figuring out how to get out of their situation, and remain interstellar worm free, events quickly get away from them. Again, Hill writes this moment with the perfect touch. It both sneaks up on you, while also being plainly visible.

Further discussion of the story would venture too deeply into spoiler territory. As it is I feel like my skirting it pretty close. Suffice it to say, I enjoyed every page of this issue’s tale.

Just as with the story, I also continue to love the art in this book. Immonen continues to excel at capturing the intensity of the story’s many characters and moments. He knows just how far to push the exaggeration of facial features to highlight the emotion, without crossing over into the comical. He get every ounce of feeling he can from these panels. And speaking of the panels themselves, I love how the panels are organized within the pages of Plunge #5.

Many of the pages within this book have a panel that isn’t confined to a box like the others. Instead, this panel expands behind the others forming a background of sorts for that page of the story. It never conceals anything important, but giving a sort of unity to the page. Tying the story together in a visual way I really enjoy. I’ve seen it done before, but not with this consistency. And which panel it is that serves this purposes fluctuates from page to page. Sometimes the bottom, or a middle, or top. I can’t say why exactly, but this whole approach just gives the presentation a special uniqueness.

Stewart’s colors continue to enhance Immonen’ s art nicely. He captures the tone of each scene wonderfully. His color selections also do a great job of highlighting the focal point of each panel. Making sure the reader’s eye is drawn exactly where it should be.

Lastly, Bennett’s letters do a fine job of presenting Plunge #5’s story in an easy to follow and clear manner, wrapping up the books visual elements nicely.

With the final installment of this series on the horizon Plunge #5 does a fantastic job of setting up the coming finale. I sincerely hope Hill and company can stick the landing on what has, thus far been, a fantastic story.

Plunge #5 is available July 28th wherever comics are sold.