Story by Joe Hill
Adaptation by: David M. Booher
Art: Zoe Thorogood and Chris O’Halloran
Letters: Shawn Lee
Publisher: Image Comics
Price: $3.99
Release Date: April 13th, 2022
Joe Hill’s Rain is a post-apocalyptic story with a twist, where threats come from both nature and humanity alike. Joe Hill’s Rain #4 continues Honeysuckle Speck’s harrowing journey, now a hostage of an escaped prisoner.
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The Story
Joe Hill’s Rain #4 picks up where we left off last issue, with Honeysuckle driving a hijacked tractor as a murderous prison escapee holds her at gunpoint.
As with most great horror tales, the most terrifying moments are those where we see the worst aspects of humanity on display. The scenes between Honeysuckle and her captor are riveting, as Honeysuckle uses her memories of Yolanda to give her the strength to deal with her captor’s attempts to keep her in his thrall.
Later, we get to see Honeysuckle’s toughness and survival skills kick in again, this time against a violently homophobic bible-thumper.
Honeysuckle’s become one of my favorite characters in comics. She’s resourceful, tough, and keeps her promises, no matter what she has to endure to follow through on them. In this issue alone, she experiences several harrowing situations that would bring down most people. What’s especially great is that through all this, she’s genuinely scared out of her mind, but presses on. This isn’t Ellen Ripley of the “Alien” films, who never appears shaken no matter what comes at her. Honeysuckle is a character who behaves like 99% of humans would in a situation like this.
What’s also great about this story is that it’s uncompromising and brutal, and that really escalates the horror. If this is ever adapted into a film, it would have to be a hard “R”, because we get a lot of violence and gore throughout. Because when you have crystal needles raining from the sky in torrents, you have to go all in or the story has no bite.
Next issue is the conclusion of the story, and I can’t wait to see the resolution of Honeysuckle’s journey. This has been an engaging story since the beginning, so hopefully we’ll get a great conclusion.
The Art
Zoe Thorogood’s art on Joe Hill’s Rain #4 continues to dazzle. I love how she draws Honeysuckle, with a perfect combination of cuteness and toughness. This is a girl who has experienced a LOT in a short time, and Zoe captures this perfectly in the way she draws Honeysuckle’s expressions and posture. The horrifying moments are drenched in blood and gore, and Zoe draws these scenes with devastating impact.
Final Thoughts
Joe Hill’s Rain #4 is a great penultimate issue that puts Honeysuckle through the wringer and ratchets up the tension more, in preparation for the conclusion next issue. It’s a captivating read and highly recommended.