There’s nothing new I can say about Liberator. I know that sounds like a bad thing or like I’m being negative, but it’s quite the opposite actually. Liberator has found its formula of sorts. It hits you with a lot of the real world, but then also ends with a positive message no matter what happens along the way. The message being, we can make a change if we want to. That is in and of itself a strong message because never once does Liberator say “you have to change this”, but just “we can change, if we want to.” All change stems from the desire for change and no changes stick if we don’t actually want them. That’s where I give Liberator the biggest props, it doesn’t preach, but rather informs.
As we saw in the last issue this story actually ties into the first volume of Liberator and it’s very cool because of that. It expands the world and shows that one of our characters that we’re following is playing a bigger role in the universe which is very comic booky, but very cool.
I’m not going to tell you what else happens in the story because again the formula is there, but the journey is what makes it worth reading. Will Sarah save the animals she’s come to care about and if she does what will she do with them? Well that’s what you’ll need to find out when you read the issue.
The writing continues to be great. Matt Miner and Earth Crisis hammer home their story with this issue and it has plenty of ups and downs throughout the tale. At one point I’m pretty sure there was a song lyric used, either that or it should be a song lyric due to how sing-songy it was. It actually ended up being some of my favorite narration so that was a plus.
The art to continues to be consistent and delivers some of Javier Sanchez Aranda’s best to date. As I said in my last review, Aranda has grown as an artist and that growth continues in this issue as well. Aranda’s art is complimented by Joaquin Pereyra’s coloring which makes the visuals striking and memorable. Pereyra’s coloring gives the series a distinct look unlike other comics being published.
This issue is a satisfying conclusion to the series and anyone that enjoyed the first issue is sure to enjoy this one as well. It does leave me curious about this franchise because I don’t know where it can go from here and if there is anything that different it can offer in a new volume. The thing is though, I’m pretty sure that whatever Matt Miner comes up with will be just as good as these last two volumes of Liberator have been. Whatever it is, I’ll be checking it out for sure.
Score: 4/5
Writers: Matt Miner, Earth Crisis Artist: Javier Sanchez Aranda Publisher: Black Mask Studios Price: $3.99 Release Date: 5/7/14 Format: Mini-Series, Print