The Woods #22

The Woods, Issue #22 focuses on Karen, the red-haired schoolgirl turned huntress.  The issue starts eight months in the past, when Karen is still more of a student but already on the alien moon.  She's drunk, and she tries to kiss a female friend Sanami, thinking that's what everyone wants.  Then she passes out.  In the present, she has two male admirers, and they've run off to find the Horde (see Issue #21).  She wants to go after them, but Sanami doesn't think it's safe.  It isn't safe, but Sanami has a plan.

I've been looking to cut back the number of comics I read.  I'm not trying out any new series, and thankfully, a few of the series I'm reading (Cry Havoc and 3 Devils) are ending soon.  I don't think The Woods will end up on the chopping block, even though it has a good 10 or 15 issues left in it.  There's too much good about it.  I like the teenage soap opera, the different sexual preferences, even a few transgender characters.  The colors by Josan Gonzalez are simply fantastic, adding to the already-great artwork of Michael Dialynas.  Ed Dukeshire's letters are clean and consistent, with slid-up horizontal lines, which I like.

But what keeps me reading is the character changes, and this is a pretty good issue in that regard.  You can see Karen's character around the time the series started, and how it has been since she started hunting - brutal, aggressive, lonely.  I think the point of this issue is to highlight the change she's gone through, mentally, physically, and emotionally, the change they've all gone through.  I can't wait to see more about what the students in the Horde are doing, how many of them have survived.  I've grown attached to the characters.