Inkblot #15 // Review
He's a simple black cat with big, green eyes. The fact that he can conjure-up portals between realms is just a strange, little quirk. That quirk has deeper implications which become apparent in Inkblot #15. Writer/artist Emma Kubert and co-writer Rusty Gladd continue their excellent location of the realms trodden by a wide-eyed cat in an issue that begins to reveal the deeper central conflict facing the world. The fifteenth issue manages a balance between the little black cat and the realms he resides in. Kubert's visuals manage a nice balance between interpersonal drama and larger epic-level magic.
The Seeker has something special for her little black cat. The magical creature that was formed from a fallen inkwell in a library of magic will be wearing bells made from Songiron and Siren's teeth. What could possibly go wrong? The cat in question is of The Void—a nebulous space between the realms that is growing increasingly volatile. There might be a bit more to The Void than first expected as Seeker and her cat explore the instability amidst conflict, magic, and more. Disorder in the Realms is about to get a lot more interesting.
Kubert and Gladd's overall rhythm has been relatively uneven throughout the series thus far. The central conflict between the Seeker and her cat has always been the souls of the series, but it hasn't always been the central focus of individual issues. The 15th issue puts Seeker and cat right in the center of the story, where they belong as the realms continue to crumble around them. One girl and her cat stand poised against q cataclysmic level of instability, and everything seems to come into a respectably sharp focus. Magic. Cuteness. Fantasy. It's just the right mix of weird.
With the fifteenth issue, Kubert finds a nice visual balance between the larger world and the world of Seeker and her cat. Kubert finds impressive graphic impact in rendering the cat's discomfort with the bell necklace and the power it channels. Thanks to somewhat dazzling color, the force of magic feels that much more potent in the fifteenth issue. Emotions on the faces of the non-felines might feel a bit over-the-top in dramatic expression. Still, the story's intensity is capably delivered in a chapter that increases tensions. Above all, the black cat maintains its distinctive cuteness that serves as the central visual trademark of the series.
The strangely intermittent momentum of the series has a personality all its own. Like any cat, the narrative has a tendency to hang out in one spot for a while and then, suddenly with no apparent cause, bolt off into the next room with life-or-death urgency. Somewhere along the way, the image of a much severe world becomes clear. With this issue, the Void that is that cat's origin becomes that much more interesting…and the series becomes that much more interesting right along with it.
