BY DUSTIN CABEAL
I keep thinking that I’m going to drop this title for review and just read it, but then it’ll entice me just enough that I want to review it. It’s not that it’s the best of the DC’s Young Animal line, but it’s quite possibly one of the best.

Loma is now stuck in her human body, and she’s trying to get used to everything still. She’s full of emotions that don’t seem to belong to her, and so this issue deals with her learning how to deal with them and making strange apologies to everyone her host body hurt previously. Which was great.

Then the ending hit. We’re still circling the drain of the lake that took Megan’s life, and this little bit of story is what keeps me hanging on. I want so desperately to see the full story there, but more so what Loma aka Shade, will do once she knows. And we’re getting close.

While I enjoy the character that Cecil Castellucci has developed over the course of four issues, I’m almost certain that she’s going to tear the character a part in the next issue. I’m both saddened and excited about this because it could make for some great stories, but also take away chances for other stories. It’s a great predicament to be in as a reader. Do I want this to change or stay the same and which is better? Change is always better, and the series is about madness.

I can’t wait.

The artwork is near perfect. There’s still several places in which details drop, proportions are awkward and a scene that was supposed to make Megan’s parents look like children but at first glance, it just looks like fucked up artwork. The coloring continues to be strange, but beautiful and the perfect fit for the series. And that last page… oh, that last page. Goosebumps.

I hope you didn’t give up on this series. Sure, it’s not as flashy as Doom Patrol, but it is a gem in the DC line of books. If it continues at this pace, it might just end up being one of their best period. For now, this is an issue worth reading if only to see the destruction in the next issue.

Shade the Changing Girl #4

Writer: Cecil Castellucci
Artist: Marley Zarcone
Colorist: Kelly Fitzpatrick
Cover Artist: Becky Cloonan
Letterer: Saida Temofonte
Publisher: DC’s Young Animal

A review by Anelise Farris

Shade the Changing Girl #4Shade the Changing Girl in a nutshell: Loma is a poetry loving alien; Megan is a mean high-school girl; Shade is what happens when Loma inhabits Megan’s body. In the three previous issues of the series, Shade has been struggling to adjust to life on earth—learning along the way that it’s not as easy or as fun as she imagined it to be. This adjustment is made even worse by the fact that she chose to snatch the body of the ultimate Mean Girl, Megan, who was left for dead by her “friends.” And, as Shade is learning the truth about the suspicious circumstances surrounding Megan’s accident, she herself is struggling to keep the madness at bay.

Shade the Changing Girl #4 feels like the fourth act in a play—what was all brought to a climax in issue #3 is slowly unraveling, bringing us closer to the arc’s conclusion. This is a tough issue, and by that I mean that it is emotionally heavy. The writing and the art work so well together to convey how difficult it is to be human, to feel all the time, and to struggle to make peace with yourself and others. Here we see Shade learning more about Megan’s past, trying to account for Megan’s mistakes, and recruiting her new friend River to help.

I can’t say enough good things about this series, and I didn’t hesitate in listing it as one of my top three comics of the year. Shade the Changing Girl brings together two remarkably different worlds—earth and Meta—and two remarkably different beings—Loma and Megan, and gives readers a fantastically illustrated story of survival and of choosing the light when it is so easy to succumb to the darkness.

The Verdict
Buy it! I read a lot of sci-fi and a lot of YA coming-of-age narratives. Shade the Changing Girl combines both in the best way possible. With only two more issues left in this arc, I am anxious to see how the story of Loma/Megan/Shade is resolved. If you are looking for a whimsical, fun read that also packs a lot of depth, pick this up!