Writers: Curt Pires & Rockwell White
Artist: Alex Diotto
Colorist: Dee Cunniffe
Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Cover Artists: Alex Diotto & Dee Cunniffe
Publisher: Image
Price: $3.99
Release Date: June 28th, 2023
Aided by Nikki and Donovan, Alexei, Fred, and Rose fly to Afghanistan. Finding the last member of their quartet before the American pullout could prove tricky. Can they find Ahmed in terror-wracked Kabul? Let’s fly into Indigo Children #4 and find out!
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Story
Before they land, Donovan shares his background and what propelled him to find the Indigo Children. Upon arrival in Kabul, they question American troops and locals. From the latter, they hear about the ghost of Kabul. The stories surrounding him suggest the man is Ahmed. If only they had more than three days to find him! Indigo Children #4 is an immersive and satisfying read. You’ll discover how Donovan’s backstory intersects with Alexei’s. The issue filled in blank spaces and overturned assumptions based on the facts provided. Still, it left me wanting to learn more.
You won’t learn more about Rand and his organization, the quartet’s previous life on Mars, or Indigo Prime’s origin story. But you’ll discover exactly when the series takes place, enjoy a rousing, action-packed final act, and learn what drives Rand’s assassin. After three largely self-contained issues, Curt Pires and Rockwell White deliver a search-and-rescue mission. I look forward to discovering whether the next issue continues the Afghanistan story or skips ahead to another location.
Art
Alex Diotto packs 26 pages with panels, works page-by-page rather than across pages, and respects panel boundaries. He showcases the rich culture of this troubled country as our heroes spend evenings in the American quarter before exploring impoverished communities. While roughly sketched, characters look good and move convincingly. The ending sequence of Indigo Children #4 reminded me of scenes from Bloodshot and Blackhawk Down.
Dee Cunniffe’s palette looks limited in some panels and fully loaded in others. Sunset spills color into the sky and splashes it liberally across buildings. Ahmed’s transitory appearance merits his legendary status, while a brown cat plays a pivotal role in this issue. I particularly like the map the group uses to plan their days, the carpet and produce shops in the open-air market, the ornamental decoration adorning a mosque, and the helicopters flying through the pink and lavender sky.
While characters occasionally use smaller, lowercase words, black uppercase letters in white dialogue balloons or narrative boxes dominate Indigo Children #4. Alexei’s psychic communication appears in semitransparent indigo balloons, but the uppercase white letters stand apart from the backgrounds. Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou’s semitransparent orange sound effects help us hear gunfire pierce Kabul’s hubbub, and large indigo letters showcase Rose’s extraordinary vocal abilities.
Final Thoughts
Indigo Children #4 helps us understand our heroes better as they search for the last member of their otherworldly quartet. A ticking clock and overwhelming odds deliver a tense read, an explosive final act, and a cliffhanger ending.