Everything comes to a head as the Abyss is released, and it’s up to Nelson and Manteau to make sure that everything doesn’t become nothing. Nullomancy and hula hoops abound in this installment of Dial H!

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I won’t beat around the bush; Dial H is a hard book to review. Because of the nature of its story, often nothing in this comic makes sense, unless you’re actually reading the book, and even then, it makes little sense anyway because where in the hell do you see superheroes like “Cock-a-Hoop?” All that aside, it really feels like Mieville is moving the narrative into its next stage as he reveals more about the H Dial and it’s connection to all of this “Nothing Magic.”

There’s finally a formal introduction in this issue to Manteau, aka Roxie Hodder, which actually allows readers a chance to care about her character; as until now she’s just been the mysterious other person with an H Dial. More importantly, this issue rounds out the first arc. Abyss stands defeated, XN is gone, and a new player who actually knows how to use the H Dial properly bursts onto the scene. We’re left with plenty of leftover questions, but I don’t hesitate to say that the next stage for this series is going to be an interesting one. 

Santolouco’s art actually gets to stand out in this issue as there are plenty of action sequences with various strange characters popping out of every corner. His portrayal of Nothing Magic and the whole Nothing vs. Nothing battle, that happens between XN and Abyss, leads to some really stunning scenes, so I have to say I’ll miss Santolouco since this is his final issue on the series.

This issue continues to prove how strange this series is, but I think it solidifies a bit of the mythology that Mieville is trying to assemble, which really gives it reason to exist past this opening arc (something I was previously worried about). Whereas before, I didn’t know what might even come after this first story was done. I now find myself really intrigued by the possibilities, and more excited than I have been before about reading upcoming issues. 

GO Rating: 4/5

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