Hotwire #4: Requiem For The Dead

Created by: Steve Pugh, Warren Ellis

Written by: Steve Pugh

Pencils by: Steve Pugh

Colors by: Steve Pugh

Lettering by: Steve Pugh

Cover art by: Steve Pugh, Alan Brooks

Released: 9/2/09

I’ve been reviewing the amazing Hotwire series. If you missed #1,  #2 , and #3 check the hotlinks for those reviews.

The blue light ghosts started appearing fifty years ago, clinging to technology, but they’ve been easy to manage. People like Alice Hotwire have kept the peace, but the blue lights aren’t acting normal, someone has been weaponizing them while no one was paying attention. The city is plagued with riots, and the police have their hands full, too focused on them rather than the bigger danger the blue lights pose, and the Homeland Enforcement is getting ready to step in, a move no one wants. Hotwire is the only hope of stopping the Blue lights, and last time we saw her she was about to be swept away as they flushed the tubes to neutralize the blue light.

The rioters continue to rage, and the police have lost all control, forced backwards at every turn. The Commanders worry about their image, what the TV is capturing, but the end is no where in sight. Mobey calls in with his status report. His entire retrieval team has been lost, but at least the weapons factory has been contained.

Everyone assumes that Alice is dead, but she’s far from it, and so is the last Blue Light they were trying to destroy. Alice had an unusual and fantastic upbringing, surrounded by technology, even though it was a time when technology was not trusted because of the blue lights, which lead to a hard time for Hotwire and her family. Now, Hotwire was ready to die, but she didn’t, the blue light, Malik saved her. He wasn’t a bad man, not evil like the rest of the blue lights had been, he’d resisted them, and manipulated them into making him stronger than all the rest, which is a huge problem as he heads towards Police city central. Between Homeland Enforcement, and the Ghost bomb, the folks of the city are the ones in for a bad time.

The action picks up, as all the story rushes to a satisfying close. Tempers flair, and ghosts bombs are out of control, its almost more fun than one comic really should be allowed. Steve Pugh’s masterful writing paired with the expressive panels cannot be beat, and he tells me that the trade has an even better ending. I’m not sure how that can be so, but he’s a genius so I believe him. Hotwire is one of the best comics out there!