Zeb Larson reviews Invisible Republic #5…
FIRST ARC FINALE! A leader emerges.
Invisible Republic has come to the end of its first arc, but in some ways it feels as though it has finally started. The series has danced around the beginning of the resistance movement that would topple the old government and bring Arthur McBride to power, and we finally get to see some of that play out in this issue. Meanwhile, Croger’s investigative work takes an unusual turn; the people who have been hunting for him may not be all bad. I will be discussing spoilers in this review, so consider yourself forewarned.
Maia spends a few months happily working with Luis and Archi as the resistance builds in intensity, but her two partners start to figure things out about her when she recognizes a picture of Arthur. After witnessing a squabble between them and following Luis into town, Maia figures out that it was Luis who planted the bomb that wounded her, and then sheltered her out of guilt. That quickly gets sidelined at a massive protest where McBride appears and denounces the survivor of the attack and the whole military occupation. Troops open fire on the crowd, wounding Luis, and Maia decides to follow Arthur away. Back in the present, Babb realizes that one person has been cropped out of all the photos of Arthur McBride: Maia. The same man who chased him takes him to none other than Maia Remeron.
The big piece in this issue is what we learn about Arthur, who has emerged as a major leader or at least symbol of the resistance. Why is he doing it? Maia spells it out: selfishness and self-image, and a craving for other people’s respect. She dismisses any sort of ideological motive by saying that Arthur never cared about anything that didn’t concern him personally. I wish we could have seen this develop through Arthur’s actions rather than having Maia just come out and tell us about this (although there are hints that Arthur is opportunistic as early as the first issue), but it finally gives us a clue as to what he’s going to become.
I don’t know how I feel about what we learn about Croger in this issue. On the one hand, it makes him less of a schmuck to know that his last assignment was about something decent, but I also liked the idea that this story would be his redemptive arc. That has been lessened somewhat. On the plus side, I really liked the depth and density of this issue: Maia’s life with Luis and Archi, the fate of the survivor from the attack, the various little betrayals by all the characters, and of course the little foundational elements that will create Arthur McBride the dictator.
Some of the dialogue was a little clunky: Archi just comes out and says that he doesn’t agree with making a killer into a hero, in a case of somebody wrapping up everything perfectly in a few dialogue bubbles. It’s a little too neat. On the other hand, Arthur’s speech to the crowd is perfect. He deflects any blame or crime instantly and immediately changes the topic to the wrongdoings perpetrated by Kent, which is sure to appeal to an already-emotional crowd. He doesn’t even come across as violent, and with his concern for the survivor of the attack, he’s almost taking on a love-your-brother tack designed to stand against injustice.
It doesn’t hurt that we have an additional cast of characters who stood with Arthur in the early days: Christoph, Ken, Ala, and a few other people. Christoph is the only one to get any serious time on the page here, but it gives McBride’s movement a real feel to it. They’re the “Old Bolsheviks” as the early Soviet revolutionaries were called. Who of them will survive? Who will be killed and raised up as martyrs? And who will be sacrificed, liquidated, or marginalized when they’re no longer useful for McBride?
As the new characters come in and Arthur begins to take shape as a demagogue, Invisible Republic is finally feeling real. The story of Maidstone and the rise of the Malory regime feel like pieces of our own history reassembled to tell a familiar story, but one with its own unique elements and tragedies. The geopolitical context is in place, there’s a cast of characters to follow, and there’s a reason to invest in those characters. I’m more excited for this series than I have been in a while, and I’m looking forward to the second arc.
Rating: 8.8/10
Zeb Larson
https://youtu.be/IWWtOQOZSTI?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng
