Well let’s just get the scoring out of the way first shall we? Huck remains perfect. If you look at the bulk of my reviews, there aren’t any series that I can think of that remained perfect the entire time. The simple fact of the matter is that it’s incredibly difficult to have a single issue always be at the top. Most of the time when you see a high score (especially on other sites) they’re basing that off of the collective vibe of the series and not the individual issue. Which is why nothing stays perfect with me because I score the issue and not the series. That said, Huck remains perfect.

If that doesn’t just tell you everything you need to know about this issue and this series as a whole… well, then keep reading.

Last issue we saw Huck captured after his “brother” Bob turned on him. It was right after a touching reunion between Huck and his mother. This issue Huck and his mother come face to face with the mad scientist that imprisoned Huck’s mom in the first place. He breaks down what’s going on and reveals that Bob and what looks like Bob’s sister, are actually robots. Cue the Dragon Ball Z music and suddenly this story is even fucking cooler.

Now he does go crazy with the villainous exposition, but I actually couldn’t help but enjoy every word of it. We haven’t had much exposure to this side of the story and so it felt necessary. It also made the turn of events all the more desperate and sad as we then turn to just Huck and his mother. She’s so upset that she’s back in her old cell after vowing that Huck wouldn’t be born or end up there.

The rest of the issue I can’t spoil for you. All I can say is that it’s Huck being Huck and that is the best thing in comics right now. Huck is the best thing in comics right now.

Now usually I go into how fucking great Millar is doing and this is some career work he’s creating right now, but I’m running out of gas writing that every review. It’s true though and I stand by that. I don’t see how he couldn’t stick the landing at this point and I’m not even worried if there’s an issue that’s not perfect because overall this is the absolute best thing in comics. I hope it does for the industry what Watchmen and Dark Knight did, only in reverse. Millar shows that you don’t need grit and gore (his forte for the longest) to tell an incredible story in comics.

I will also mostly skip how Rafael Albuquerque and Dave McCaig are delivering masterful art that will surely go on to define their career and continue to develop what I’ve taken to calling the “Rockwell comic style.” The words just aren’t there to describe how powerful the artwork is at times. The final page in particular gave me chills and left me with the most amazing feeling of hope. It’s rare that a cliffhanger leaves you with hope over intrigue.

I will however take a moment to gush about Nate Piekos of Blambot for his lettering since I have only done that once in the past. There is a sound effect in this issue that is given an incredible amount of thought and care. It’s a sound that’s resonating a great distance and as it moves from panel to panel is grows smaller, but it retains the impact of the effect. It’s hard to describe without spoiling it, but you’ll know it when you see it.

This is the book to beat. There’s only one other title out there that I can think of that could potentially beat it and that’s Tomboy. Otherwise, there’s nothing else by Image that can beat Huck. There’s not a damn thing that’s even close to being better than Huck at the big two either. If creators aren’t paying attention to this book, then I hope readers are. I hope that future generations of comic book creators are being inspired by it so we can see an era in comics that don’t always need to be gritty and dark, but rather just wonderfully human, but with a super twist.

Score: 5/5

Huck #5 Writer: Mark Millar Artist: Rafael Albuquerque Colorist: Dave McCaig Letterer: Nate Piekos of Blambot Publisher: Image/Millar World Price: $3.50 Release Date: 3/16/16 Format: Print/Digital