In the middle of this five part series, the story seems to take a moment here to catch its breath and to reflect on the developments of the previous issues.  Rikard is with Raevil in the belly of the marine beast, and they discuss the plan going forward, with Raevil bargaining for his life.  Meanwhile on land Sigrid impatiently awaits the return of Rikard.  As opposed to the previous two issues, the action sequences here are both more reserved and also less relevant, almost acting as filler.  Instead this issue relies on a reliable bait-and-switch type of plot device as the reader is lulled into a state of complacency throughout before a decent twist at the end.

The story here focuses much more on Sigrid than has been led into.  First introduced as a macguffin-like secondary character, she is instead used more prominently here, with most of this issue focusing on her and even questioning what could almost be a strange kind of love for Rikard.  Ignoring all except his return, she is obsessed with him to the point of not recognizing other things evident to her.  This is used here to show a bit of tension between the characters, but by the end of the issue also proved to be the source for some good foreshadowing.

As opposed to the first two issues, the story here is a lot slower, as it focuses on what was previously a secondary character, now thrust into a leading role.  While the actions of Rikard force the plot forward, the payoff here for anyone that has read the first two issues is in the last two pages, both with the plot twist and the gorgeous artwork by Joelle Jones.  It is a bit slower and a bit more sedate than fans of this series will be accustomed to, but by the end this issue stands alongside the others in terms of quality, and this leads into the following issue better than the previous two issues have done.

Story: Cullen Bunn  Art: Joelle Jones
Story:  8.3 Art: 8.8  Overall: 8.3  Recommendation: Buy

Oni Press provided Graphic Policy with a free copy for review.