Zeb Larson reviews Invisible Republic #8…
When you cover a story, you can go too deep.
Invisible Republic’s mystery keeps getting deeper as it tosses in a healthy dose of betrayal on all sides. If anybody who thought that Maia was an untouched innocent prior to this issue, those happy thoughts have likely been dispelled, but after what we learn about her, who can blame her? Meanwhile, Babb is having some second thoughts about having anything to do with Maia and this investigation after the bloodbath last issue, but running away from these people is no mean feat either. So what can anybody do? I will be discussing spoilers from here on out, so consider yourself forewarned.
In the aftermath of last issue’s attack, Babb and Woronov debate whether to run with Maia’s journal or stay and get the scoop on this story, as an unknown character tries to get to the locker. Both agree to hold off on a decision, seeing as how the journal is stashed on a ship from Earth under a bio-lock. Contrary to their expectations, Maia even gives them the choice to leave, but not before showing the cell she was locked up in for close to fifteen years. She recalls an argument she had with Arthur 42 years ago when she accused him of doing nothing to actually create a revolution. Sure enough, he listened to her and planted a bomb in Nica’s market, which inadvertently killed several cops who thought there was a break-in. Babb decides to stay and hold over the journal, but when Woronov goes for the bag, it’s gone.
On the other hand, this issue dispels a few of the doubts I’ve been carrying about Maia. She’s definitely working toward her own agenda, and it’s a plan that was shaped by the experience of fifteen years in a tiny, dark room with nobody else. There’s a hard edge to her that wasn’t there when she was imprisoned, but it’s evident in moments like the shootout from last issue. That being said, most people wouldn’t lie in a diary that would probably never be read, especially if it was intended for only one other person.
So now, as it has been for a while, the greatest mystery is still Arthur, and how his revolution succeeded. Based on what Maia has showed Babb (and us, implicitly), it’s still not clear at all. Part of that is the limit of the narration. Maia is in a small group of people in hiding, so she can no longer tell us how society at large reacted to Arthur and his group. Have they maintained their popularity since the shooting at the protest, or have they faded into the background? Arthur’s role in this is one of the biggest mysteries of all, because he seems so passive. He spends most of this issue engaged in bizarre group criticisms in which people admit their wrongdoings (though to be fair, revolutionaries seem to love those kinds of activities); the bombing is a kind of afterthought. But Maia can’t be showing us everything he’s doing, or moreover, why he’s doing those things.
What we can see is that Arthur is steadily consolidating control of the group. Even silly exercises like the group criticisms get people ready to hear criticism from him specifically. Maia had to be silenced in group because her words and ideas were breaking the hierarchy that Arthur was creating. Jas’ death is the same thing. In fact, Arthur may not have killed him at all, but letting everybody think that he did serves a certain purpose as well. When people think you’re capable of anything, you still come across as dangerous.
So, I’m hoping to see how Nica figures into Arthur’s schemes of leadership and the broader revolution in the next issue. We need some time spent on the outside of the group, if only to see the changes that are coming.
Rating: 8.4/10
Zeb Larson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng&v=ymcu7eigVyg
Originally published December 23, 2015. Updated April 15, 2018.
