The story takes an unexpected turn in this issue, and taken by surprise, I'm intrigued to see where it's headed next... and how the writer plans to resolve everything in just a single issue. This middle issue loses a good deal of the human side of the story, though, and the focus on the more supernatural elements -- the point of which was well established early on -- in the script makes the book feel padded. Bennett's art is impressive at times, but it's also inconsistent.
Lucy lies at the bottom of a ravine, dying and alone. Well... not completely alone. The ghost of the kitten her father killed hours before stands guard over her, warding off the winged scavengers that eye her lifeless body hungrily. The unnamed kitten comes face to face with another cat -- a much larger cat -- who guides her to another realm... but not the realm of the dead. It is the place where the fading goddess Bast resides. The lady Bast is enraged to learn that the one human being who was beginning to worship her anew has been slain, and she decides to do something about it.
Bennett's vision of Bast's realm brings the dark, magical nature of the character and her feelings to life. The gritty ruins reflect not only Bast's fall from deified grace, but her embittered attitude as well. Rambo's deep, dark colors reflect the same mood as well. Bennett's artwork is rather ordinary, though, when it comes to the more grounded scenes. Joshua's encounter with Lucy's dad looks rough and inconsistent, and we still don't get a clear read on Joshua's and Lucy's ages. I realized as well that the lettering motifs used for the non-human characters is distracting and hard on the eye at times.
Little did I know that one of the major players in this drama would prove to be the kitten that was snuffed so quickly in the first issue. She's still little but a pawn in the hands of the title character, but the twist caught me off guard and I always enjoy a surprise in a story.
The theme here seems to be pettiness. Bast is clinging to her dreams of worship despite the fact she knows her current state of affairs is just part of a natural cycle. Lucy's father is so embittered that he's thankful to have a new target in the form of Joshua. Kiernan taps into the dark side of the human experience here, and it makes for an interesting -- though far from uplifting -- read.
Kiernan spends a lot of time delving into Bast's origins and Egyptian myth, but by the end of it, we don't really learn anything new. Bast was a goddess and she's dying now... we get it. It seems that by the end of this issue, the story's just beginning, and the impression I'm left with is that this is a two-issue limited series that's been padded out to consist of three chapters.
