Everything just seems messed up in Arcadia. But I guess that is what you get for saving the human race by making essentially robot copies of the “real” humans and not trusting a damn one of them. Now it is time to find the glitch in Arcadia. Why has one of their own died when they are supposed to live forever? By while Pepper and his pals search for these answers, Arcadia already has an answer; Pepper. And I don’t think their problems will be much of a problem anymore. Arcadia has a lot of different stories going on, although the characters are all connected in this comic. So with this connection, you can understand certain character’s motives. Lee is fighting for his family. He is trying to find out from Corey, who seems a little more than insane, the root password. I think these robots are the one real thing I can’t get a full read on. Sure you want to hate Lee right away because he is Pepper, but for some reason you don’t, at least as of now. Maybe he has more feelings than he thinks. I don’t know. Then Sam is the same way. She is this badass who hates Mr. Binetti, but you have to remind yourself that she isn’t the real Sam. But then again, maybe this is what you are supposed to be toying with, obviously Pepper is.
That all brings me to Coral. She is on a mission to save her parents and protect her brother at all costs. But we all know her brother is going to get involved soon. He will have to, but for now Coral is trying desperately to keep him at a safe distance. Unfortunately, the rescue seemed to come a little too late. No one dies in the Garner family, but something much worst.
This whole issue keeps you on edge. Just when you think something bigger couldn’t possibly happen in the next few pages, it does. Alex Paknadel draws in the audience with every plot twist. His way of splitting up the stories into this different places with different people but then having them all connect at the most hideous times just makes for great suspense. Plan and simple, I wish more people were writing like Paknadel is.
With Paknadel writing so many different stories in so many different places, this is a chance for Eric Scott Pfeiffer’s art to really stand out. And, of course, it does. He creates so many unique characters, such as Mr. Binetti. Probably everyone’s favorite. He has this robotic skeleton scare to him. And then there is just this mysterious internet control that should be hard to draw on a page, but again Pfeiffer does it well. He makes it feel like magic with the purple colors and the waves of codes or shifting IP addresses. It makes the whole story come alive and jump out at you.
I have no complaints about this comic. I also think that the story is more real than any other futuristic story out there. And Paknadel focuses on it all without getting lost. He shows us the emotional side of a family while dealing with the social changes in the United States. I look forward to every single issue and you should too, because damn this is getting real.
Score: 5/5
Arcadia #4 Writer: Alex Paknadel Artist: Eric Scott Pfeiffer Publisher: BOOM! Studios Price: $3.99 Release Date: 8/12/15 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital