The One Hand Issue #4
The One Hand #4 from Image Comics
by Ram V and Laurence Campbell
Issue #4 of the One Hand is truly one of the most mind blowing, exciting, and astonishingly displayed comics I have read in some time- so I don’t know exactly what I can say in this review aside from, “AAAAGGGGGHHHHH!!!”
Reading this comic in tandem with “The Six Fingers” from Dan Watters week to week has been such a singular joy and the thought of the story coming to an end soon honestly makes me really sad. It feels like a true comic book event that you have to experience yourself to understand outside the spectacle and sheer volume of work coming from major publishers like DC or Marvel.
I strongly encourage you to pick up The One Hand and The Six Fingers and piece together the clues of this evolving science fiction crime saga that is reaching increasingly more exciting heights.
SPOILERS AHEAD
For the first time- “The One Hand” and “The Six Fingers” pick up in the same place, as Detective Ari Nassar speaks to Johannes, the unwitting One Hand Killer, through the walls of a hospital. Through the Six Fingers comic we have come to understand that Johannes is being guided by an overarching consciousness that drives him to commit the murders and write the strange symbols on the wall, for a reason yet to be revealed, but Johannes is also able to access parts of the futuristic city that are otherwise inaccessible- for instance, when Johannes needed an escape for the murder of the previous One Hand Killer, Odell Watts, the mind of the city opened a hallway in between the walls of the hospital- fucking what?! That is so goddamn cool!
Detective Nassar is able to ask Johannes a few questions, but is interrupted by his partner’s call telling him to get out of the building as fast as possible because the Chief is on her way with a squad of cops. Nassar makes his escape, which unfortunately brands him as a suspect in the case, having been the only one seen present at the murder scene of Odell Watts in the hospital.
What this issue does so well is that it feels like the release of a central pervading idea that has built in tension with every issue of both titles, which is- “What if the One Hand Killer is more than an individual, what if it is a living notion, a new form of nature, a concept that we can’t fathom the intention of- even if we could decipher it’s language written in blood on the walls would we understand what it has to say.” Indeed the question becomes, “What does the IT want?”
This hopeless, eery sentiment is paired with the first concrete evidence and lead from our detectives who discover that the cameras on the street and in the hospital that turned off in correspondence with Johannes improbable course through the city reveal a map leading back to where Johannes came from- a path that Detective Nassar intends to follow to the bitter end.
However, after receiving an unmarked Gun from a dealer, in some of the most overtly brooding detective noir pages we’ve had in the series, Ari arrives at Johannes apartment only to find the Artist who sensationalized the One Hand Killer that has been shadowing Johannes while possessed by the spirit of the Killer. She tells Detective Nassar that Johannes does not understand or know how to control the Killer either and that he left with only one clue as to his destination- a name. Helene. In other words, Ari’s artificial friend who has been his only confidant. That’s right, shit is getting personal!
While this comic is a triumph of intelligent design and masterful emotional appeal- it is also an artistic delight that I cannot commend enough- these pages are so effortlessly inventive and thematic and brutal. It feels like we are watching this evocative, defining performance play out between seasoned dancers. And I for one am quite content to just sit back and admire their beautiful work.
-Nicholas Aaron Hodge
