After wrapping what could arguably considered this series biggest storyline, “Shade, the Changing Girl” gets artist Marguerite Sauvage for an issue. Sauvage has a great reputation for excellent work, but will her sensibilities suit this title and what will “Shade, the Changing Girl” do now that the series has started adjusting to Shade’s everyday life to keep things truly interesting in this series going forward?
Shade, the Changing Girl #7
Written by Cecil Castellucci
Illustrated by Marguerite Sauvage and Dan Parent
Letters by Saida TemofonteIn this stand-alone issue, Shade begins to ponder what’s next for her on Earth. As the winter dance approaches, she reminisces about highschool on Meta, and starts to wonder why she’s putting herself through that kind of hell again. Will she find the perfect dress, or will the dance be a perfect disaster? Plus, an all-new episode of “Life with Honey,” with art by Dan Parent (Kevin Keller).
This issue remarkably spends some time with Shade in the present and past, advancing both stories with key beats. Readers didn’t know a lot about Loma’s world before, but this story fills in some of those gaps about Meta. “Shade the Changing Girl” was never afraid to go dark, but readers will likely be surprised at how bleak this issue starts to get. Loma’s background and origin story is really dark, as fans will likely be surprised at how just how desperate Loma was to go to Earth and kick this series off.
DC has this issue billed a stand-alone issue, which doesn’t seem quite so accurate considering that the story inside this issue continues in a linear fashion with the rest of the issues thus far. This is very much the next issue of “Shade, the Changing Girl,” but Castellucci fills in some of the gaps in how Shade got to Earth in the first place. Even though the background of Loma has already been explored and hinted at, piecing each facet of this story together still makes for a strong reading experience. This issue is heavy on character, showing how Shade never quite fit in no matter where which planet she’s on. This story even manages to tie a couple of loose threads together and show off a major villain for Shade. There’s some excellent characterization with the individual characters and the way that Castellucci is able to depict the supporting characters in this story is the bread and butter that makes “Shade the Changing Girl” so fun to read in every issue.
This installment in particular starts to really push the plot of the series forward by developing two supporting cast members in a major way. There’s even a dance that ties together all the threads of the series introduced this far. There’s some still some aspects of Shade’s background that need to be addressed, but this issue does a great job tying each part of this comic together for some surprising sequences. Castellucci is still not afraid to show off just how dangerous this High School can be, and just how vicious the average teenagers can get with each other.
Marguerite Sauvage fits this comic like a glove. Her idealized way of drawing Shade’s life fits this comic perfectly. This comic in particular has a foreboding sense of dread bubbling deep beneath the pleasant surface. Sauvage delivers on the psychedelic aspects of the series as well with a few bizarre splash pages that flow nicely into the rest of the story. At times, artists can be ambitious with layouts, making it so the storytelling inside the issue doesn’t make the comic flow for readers, Sauvage doesn’t fall into this trap here but still takes a few noticeable risks. The sneak peek into the world of Shade’s origin looks lovely here. The look of Meta fuses the idealized world of the ‘60s with a subversive set of character designs, layouts and overall aesthetic. I never thought of Sauvage’s pencil set as being something that would adapt well with the psychedelic madness seen throughout “Shade, the Changing Girl” in previous issues, I’m glad to be proven so incredibly wrong here.
There’s so much to like about “Shade, the Changing Girl” #7. This is a series that continues to have a wholly unique vibe with a sense of both humor and drama like nothing else in comics today. Shade is still acclimating to everyday life as the series has very slowly started to unravel just how an alien would interpret earth. More importantly, this series’ subtle pacing has really started to payoff in these later issues when the comic has sped up like a fever dream able to cash on situations established in earlier issues. Shade is going to have to switch things up and establish a new status quo soon, but the series is at an extraordinarily good place right now.
Final Verdict: “Shade the Changing Girl” #7 moves the series forward by examining the past and present of its fascinating and desperate protagonist.
