It’s the final countdown for this arc of the comic series Brik. Four issues behind us and only one more after this to finish the story of our young “hero” Drew and his faithful Golem Brik. Issue #4 ended with Little Stalin about to go gangsta on the neighborhood to crush the hope that Brik has given them. Drew is feeling himself and all about rocking his black hoodie and riding off into the night on Brik’s back to deliver street justice to any bad guy he comes in contact with.

Brik #5 is all about consequences and cause and effect. Drew’s actions in the last issue has Little Stalin and his minions out for blood and they’re taking no prisoners as they set out to squash the rebellion in the neighborhood. We see Drew get his first kiss and it was cute, not forced, age appropriate, and actually showed a bit of consent and questioning. Sera returns, meets Brik and reminds Drew of the rules. Unfortunately, by the time she gets Drew to do right by the Brik, Little Stalin and his boys are blowing things up an about to hold a public execution in the middle of the streets of Yonkers.

As usual, the writing is on point. Drew acts exactly how you’d expect a kid with a Golem to act. The interactions between him and the other adults in this comic book series are real and intuitive. Brik comes off as a well written tv show and the art keeps pace with the story. With one issue left in this series arc, I’m shivering with antici—-pay—tion waiting to see how this all wraps up. This was a placeholder issue but, unlike the usual placeholder issues it had meat. It was a well-drawn, compelling read that made me not only enjoy the issue I was reading but, call back to the previous issues and look forward to The finale.

Issue five ends with an edge of your seat cliffhanger that doesn’t feel gimmicky or forced. The organic progression of the series means that this issue is everything that you need it to be with a nice push to make it even more than you expected.

Story: Michael Benson and Adam Glass Art: Harwinder Singh
Story: 8.6 Art: 8.4 Overall: 8.5 Recommendation: Buy

Oni Press provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review