Kranburn #5

I got the .pdf of Kranburn #5, I'll wait for one more before I order paper copies.

The cover is another enjoyably detailed pose.  The outfit is especially silly, I'd bet it would weigh 80 lbs at least, with all the stuff hanging on it.  Not that I'm complaining, it's fun to look at and I imagine it's lots of fun to draw this.  I wondered how the chainsaw cut anything with those smooth teeth, until I saw the mangled end of the branch.

The story picks up in a sort of flashback, a young Brand makes his way through his increasingly horrible neighborhood, to find even greater horror at home.  Vicious assault, rapes, stabbings, dismemberment, death, all ensue.  Good God.  The story holds nothing back in showing an awful and formative moment in Brand's life.

And it was all a dream.  No, really, it's the nightmare Brand awakens from ("been a long time since I last had that dream") after hiding to recover, after absorbing the vicious beating from Brutus.  Two Nong make the mistake of finding Brand, he makes them pay with their lives, and begins his next assault.

During this, the Nong continue to torture Lawton, sending bits of him to taunt the residents of Kranburn.  The Kranburnites are fearful of action, and a frustrated Silvia storms off on her own to search for her parents.

We see Lord ordering increased pressure on the Lawtons and on Kranburn, time is running short for them.  Then suddenly Silvia encounters a Nong scurrying back from dropping a "message" to Kranburn, and a chase ensues.

Certainly this is one of the strongest chapters in the story.  The action, drama, and emotion shown are unsurpassed here.  I really like the artwork, it's easy for me to overlook inconsistencies (BMB's obviously not a cyclist, never seen a bike like that before...) because I enjoy it so much.  The raw black and white is perfect for depicting the unflinching brutality people are capable of.

I'm curious about what the future holds for Kranburn.  The books have run about mid-40s pages long, there are about 18 pages on the webcomic after the last page of this book, and there are about 9 weeks until the beginning of March, when I thought the 5th book would come up, so I don't see how there would be enough pages by then.  I'm sure I'm missing something, and I'm not too concerned, the comic seems to be going strong so I can look forward with anticipation for its conclusion.