I have to say that I did not see this ending coming. I’m not talking about the way Rob and Detective Melendez’s relationship ended up, but rather the ending of the conflict that has been building for three volumes now. It was fantastic. There was a great deal of setup in that last issue and with that you have to wonder if the creative team is going to stick the landing; even one as skilled as Seeley and Norton. Well they did and it made for a great issue and a rewarding conclusion to this mini-series. In the last issue we saw what the plan for Rob truly was. The man he thought was his mentor has turned out to be John Quint a technoshaman. His plans to have Rob dangle himself in front of the jealous dead worked and so now Rob’s connection to the Sword is weak. It doesn’t stop him from charging at the situation head on and walking into the final stage of the trap.

As I said in the beginning this story has a clever and rewarding outcome. Tim Seeley gives you all the tools to figure it out, but if you’re like me then you might become so wrapped up in the narrative that you don’t process the clues.

Seeley does a wonderful job with Quint making him a great villain for the story. The dialogue is really kept to a minimum as Quint narrates his life for the most part, but the little bursts of interactions are rewarding.

Mike Norton has several great two page spreads in this issue. It’s visually interesting because Quint walks Rob through his life and we see the two characters standing on the page looking at the same panels we are. It’s a wonderful visual that makes the entire process entertaining to read and in a way makes the reader apart of the story. Norton is challenged as usual by Seeley and rises to said challenge. He not only creates some great one-time use characters, but he captures an entirely different era in Quint’s backstory. This is vintage Norton through and through.

To really do this book justice I would need to spoil the hell out of it, but I won’t be doing that. If you just started with The Occultist on this series then you’ll definitely be happy with the outcome, but if you’ve been following it from the beginning then the reward will be even greater. I hope we don’t have to wait long to see the Occultist again and if the teaser in this issue is any indication… we won’t.

Score: 5/5

Writer: Tim Seeley Artist: Mike Norton Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Price: $3.99 Release Date: 2/5/14