Trigger #4 Review

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Reviewed by: Mathan “Whoa!” Erhardt
Story Title: Pulled Part 4

Written by: Jason Hall
Penciled, Inked and Cover by: John Watkiss
Colored by: Jeromy Cox
Lettered by: Ken Lopez
Editor: Will Dennis

The issue begins with Carter under hypnosis. As his hypnotist prods him on, Carter begins to recount his memories, no matter how mixed up they are. The hypnosis proves successful as Carter explains what happened on his most recent “business trip” and how he killed a man.

Suddenly Carter screams in agony. The psychiatrist checks her equipment and notes that she’s registering two distinct sets of memories, one which overlays the other. A still hypnotized Carter gets up from his seat and begins to strangle his doctor. She says the codeword and he “wakes up” with no memory of his recovered memories or his attack on his doctor. She gives him a clean bill of health and sends him on his way. Unfortunately the session was monitored and 18 minutes later a Trigger is sent her way.

Carter goes home deals with some domestic responsibilities. Meanwhile Vi’s mother deals with the repercussions of Vi’s tussle last issue. Apparently one of the girls Vi attacked is comatose. Thus Vi is to be enrolled in a “special school.” Meanwhile Carter deals with the revelation that he is indeed a Trigger, and has killed people.

Carter gets a call from Deirdre Myers the investigative reporter. But he brushes her off. She instead continues following a lead and she recovers a couple of guns. Later, Carter goes to confide in Seth about his dual nature. Seth suggests Carter try to retrieve his memories using chemical means.

Then we find ourselves in the office of Lucas Darke, an Executive Vice President of Ethicorp. We find him in a compromising situation with Vi. As she begins to divulge some secrets about the Trigger program, including a revelation about “host minds”, Darke activates a mind-wipe.

Carter returns home and gets into an argument with his wife. He leaves and gets a hotel room. He then decides to take Seth’s advice; he ingests a drug and…to be continued.

I’ve got to hand it to Hall for revealing some of the secrets involving “Triggers.” The revealed secrets only make the story that much more tantalizing. His portrait of Carter’s home life is a dismal one, but it reads very well. I also like how Vi, Carter and Deirdre are all onto different aspects of the “Triggers.”

Watkiss’ art is great as always. He really plays with the imagery during Carter’s hypnosis session. And his altered consciousness cliffhanger has me salivating for the next issue. Society still looks dreary and Darke has a sinister appeal. Kudos to Cox for his coloring.