By Steve Baxi — A picture is worth a thousand words, which usually means a good work of art can keep you talking about it for hours. This is, generally speaking, true. However, for me, it's often the opposite when it comes to great works of art which inspire so many things to say that I’m rendered speechless, unable to form a full sentence while my brain fights over what could possibly encapsulate all that I’m feeling. Good art keeps you talking, great art leaves you speechless.

Step by Bloody Step #1 — by Si Spurrier, Matías Bergara, Matheus Lopes and Emma Price — left me speechless. Spurrier has made a name for himself by recapturing the edge of the British invasion in comics while simultaneously channeling his own modern understanding of storytelling, politics and the human condition. He is undeniably working hard to deliver comics that feel like they could only come from him while at the same time appealing to a wide fanbase, whether that be indie lovers, X-Fans or old school Hellblazers. The ambition on display here keeps that tradition of his work alive, and is enhanced because of the partnership with Matías Bergara and Matheus Lopes who provide stunning art on every page. 2022 is young, but Step by Bloody Step is already a contender for best comic of the year.

The art works on multiple levels in this first issue, but immediately what jumps out as the crux of the story’s success is a careful understanding of geography. Bergara crafts panels to create an eye line that would usually be more easily established through word balloons. Pages often break apart in staccato-style panels that guide us along the direction of our travelers, but also serve to highlight relative distance and enhance our sense of emotional isolation. Every environment is richly detailed but never in a way that takes away from where our eyes need to be fixed, and the panel layouts work hard to intricately develop a natural rhythm to follow the pace of our lead characters. Danger feels more dangerous because we know where everyone is, beauty feels more beautiful because the environment dynamically juxtaposes what we’re used to with what stands out, what feels out of place. And oftentimes, the confusion associated with what’s beautiful and what’s dangerous creates the narrative tension to keep the momentum of the story going.

Bergara has a great burden to make sure the comic doesn’t read too quickly. In order to better anchor the audience and create a sense of a long, treacherous journey, he often breaks up panels with more gutter space than you would normally see. The larger gap lead your brain to associate distance with more time passing, but the images themselves often show little change from the previous panel. This effect then creates a sense of tedium, that the journey feels like forever and even if very little time has passed. Add to that the high number of panels on a page to replace text heavy word balloons and this slows readers as they connect the dots.

Lopes’ coloring also provides a nuanced view of this world. On the surface, you generally have two broad approaches when dealing with this kind of premise. You can make the colors dull to enhance the arduousness of the journey, or you can make the colors pop to capture the wonder in our younger character’s eyes. Lopes does both by shifting the colors between beats in the story without ever feeling like there’s a drastic tone shift. The number of colors a page are eye-catching, but they all become ever so slightly muted over time. Often, brighter blues and yellows stand out against the white snow. And when your life is in danger, all color and all life drains out of the world. It’s a delicately crafted balance that could feel jarring but instead comes across as rich, and at times surrealistic.

Step by Bloody Step is a rare treat, a story of an otherworldly, deadly civilization filled with beasts and mysterious creatures grounded in universal questions. In this opening issue, Spurrier focuses heavily on a quest for beauty and the tension between that and simple survival. How does something beautiful capture the full array of our senses? What do we risk in pursuing it? And is life worth living without it? Once the monsters and the alien environments fade, you’re left with an intimate story, told profoundly through facial expressions, gestures and something as simple as a beautiful flower.

There’s an incredible amount to unpack here and as the series continues, I only expect it to become denser. The work on display is staggering, as a complex and emotional story is told entirely through form and implication. No one can drop the ball but unsurprisingly, everyone hits it out of the park. Step By Bloody Step #1 delivers on everything we’ve come to expect from this team, and more we didn’t realize they were capable of.

Overall: Spurrier, Bergara, Lopes and Price create as close to a perfect comic as possible. Every element of the art, layouts, colors and narrative is firing on all cylinders. 10/10.

Review: Step by Bloody Step #1

Step by Bloody Step #1
Writer: Si Spurrier
Artist: Matías Bergara
Colorist: Matheus Lopes
Graphic Design: Emma Price
Publisher: Image Comics
Price: $4.99
An armored giant and a helpless child. Together they cross an astonishing world brimming with beasts, bandits, and—deadliest by far—civilizations… If they stop walking, the earth itself forces them onwards. WHY? The child can’t ask. She and her guardian have no language, no memory, nothing—except each other.
Multiple-Eisner nominees SI SPURRIER (X-Men), MATÍAS BERGARA (Coda), and MATHEUS LOPES (Supergirl) present a watershed moment in modern comics: four double-length chapters of a bittersweet fantasy opus, completely text free.
Let’s take a walk.
Publication Date: February 23, 2022

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Steve Baxi has a Masters in Ethics and Applied Philosophy, with focuses in 20th Century Aesthetics and Politics. Steve creates video essays and operates a subscription based blog where he writes on pop culture through a philosophy lens. He tweets through @SteveSBaxi.