I recently received my physical copies of Soulfinder Volume 3: Infinite Ascent, and between the cover art and my experience with the previous books, I knew this was going to be another wild ride!
The Story
Soulfinder has the simplest pitch I’ve seen of any comic title: combat veteran exorcists. Every story promises the physical and psychological danger of confrontations fitting for police and military. And then it elevates the danger to a whole new level when the literal demons they face try their souls.
In this issue, Fr. Retter and Detective Chua are sent to capture Steven Pauk, the Black Recluse. He’s not only a drug dealer and human trafficker located at the top of a dangerous mountain climb, he’s also the servant of the “Spider of Satan,” which has dangers of its own waiting.
In this third book, I learned from a conversation with Doug Ernst, the author, that this was also the first book where he started getting experimental with the medium, and also gave the artist, Matt Weldon, opportunites to draw splash pages to really show off the art. Its an experiment that clearly paid off.
Starting with symbolism and a great send-off
This is a small detail in the overall book, but something I’ve come to appreciate as a writer are story markers communicated via an object or small detail that carries through the plot. In this case, a statue of St. Anthony marking the beginning and ending of the story.
At the beginning, Father Retter is moved to act when a girl dies form a drug overdose (called “Silk”), her sister is taken by human traffickers who were selling the drug, and the parents are rightly devastated. Fr. Retter offers to fix the statue, but really, its a symbol of him taking on the responsibility of shepherding a broken family through a crisis of faith.
This sets up multiple payoffs through the book. Fr. Retter isn’t only taking on Steven Pauk, a renegade wanted by the government, he also must rescue Gemma and restore the family.
Crazy with colors
Through the book there are moments where Doug and Matt went wild with the colors and layouts, and this first encounter with the “Spider of Satan” is one of those moments. Readers of the earlier books know the danger that’s coming in the pages ahead.
And since we’re here, let’s appreciate Fr. Retter’s work to shepard the Russo family, and the added motivation to not give up.
Facing the Black Recluse
A good villain can go a long way in making a great story. In the ISOM 1 review I loved Darren’s character, and Pauk, the Black Recluse, does not disappoint. The six eyes, the lair, and his remaining a threat even when captured sets him up as a dangerous target that clearly could not be handled by anyone else.
If you haven’t read a Soulfinder book before, one thing to note is that the threats are both physical and spiritual in nature. And often times the latter is what can take you deeper into the world and the characters. The missions put Fr. Retter and friends in great danger, but demons exposing the deepest needs of their souls are what takes the story to a much greater level.
One unanswered question
The only thing that left me wanting more from the book were questions about Gemma. She did serve a role of adding to the stakes for Retter’s mission, but I was hoping for a bit more to be revealed about her character. Why did she take Silk? Why did Pauk take her all the way to Shen Guo? Granted, she wasn’t central to the story, but this is one unanswered question that I hope to see answered.
The ending…
I don’t want to spoil the ending, but there are revelations about Detective Chua I didn’t expect, both direct and cryptic, and there are hints of the ending setting something up for Soulfinder 4 that I can’t quite put my finger on.
But if I can tease one thing about the ending, its the tie back to the beginning.
Want a copy?
Infinite Ascent is available on the Iconic Comics website, and when ordering myself I received it in less than a week. Unlike many indies, you don’t have to wait for a campaign to get this book, and at $10 for a 72-page book its not too bad on pricing.
Have you read Infinite Ascent? Have thoughts or questions? Comment below - lets chat!
Good review. I gotta ask, did you get the screenshots from the Kindle version?