6 Awesome Comics You Must Read This Week (13 February)

4. Letter 44 #4 By Charles Soule And Alberto Jimenez Alburquerque (Oni)

The shocking finale to the third issue leaves President Blades without a Chief of Staff causing him to turn (as planned by the shadowy forces that be) to the Secretary of Defense, a holdover from the last administration. Is Blades' presidency being sabotaged? Meanwhile out in space, the crew of the Clarke send out an away team to investigate an alien-modified asteroid - but what will they find? For those unfamiliar with the series, Letter 44 imagines what if an Obama-like President came into office to discover the former Bush-like President had been waging multiple wars to prepare humanity for a possible alien invasion. There's a massive alien vessel docked in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter but are they peaceful or hostile? We don't know, so, in secret, a small crew is sent in a specially modified spaceship, the Clarke, to investigate in what is probably a one-way mission. Alberto Alburquerque's art is always good but I found his work in this issue to be the best yet. The silent pages where the small science ship heads out to the asteroid were absolutely beautiful to look at and really well laid out. We see the alien vessel in the background, far away, the Clarke in the foreground, the close-ups of the smaller ship, and it's journey toward the asteroid, with its rocky surface and alien tubes. Charles Soule is taking his time with this series and I think I've gotten into the rhythm of this comic now. He's still teasing us by not giving away the aliens' appearance but he's giving us just enough, issue by issue, to keep us interested, especially with that last page reveal. It's also a mark of the quality of the story that the reader is invested in all plot strands going on, even when they're both different genres. As much as I'm in for the aliens, I really like how Blades is having to deal with entrenched political foes. Some titles lose steam after a great first couple issues, but Letter 44 is going the distance and the fourth issue is a completely enthralling next chapter in the series. Jump on board if you haven't already done so - this one's going to be great!