I WANNA TALK ABOUT ISSUE#15 OK? OK.
So. What an issue, huh? Absolutely stunning, and while I wish we got some Jake and Steven interacting with the Midnight Mission, I do adore this issue and it was an incredible follow up to the last issue. The art, the writing, the color choice's, the Steven, THE JAKE!!! anyway, this is an analysis so let's do it.
Marc Spector doesn’t believe that he’s enough. He never has, which is why he was initially so reluctant and terrified of giving up control (which I went a bit ham on analyzing here). He’s scared of someone else seeing him how he sees himself, as nothing more than a means to an end, and realizing once they’ve gotten what they need out of him, he won’t be useful anymore. He calls himself a “fist”, he literally says “I still have my uses” in the context of a fight. Marc doesn’t see himself as being much else outside of that violence and his mission as Khonshu’s fist.
Which directly contrasts with Steven and Jake. (YAY I GET TO TALK ABOUT THEM!!!)
Steven, who’s already got his own society he feels semi-comfortable in, can slip into that role of rich benefactor like he was born for it. The first thing he does when fronting is always always take off the mask and take care of them. Which is, so impactful. Because yes, he’d care about their appearance. He's rich, sure. But it’s more than that. He takes care of them because it’s what they deserve. They’re worth something. They’re worthy of love and affection, self care in the form of expensive hair treatments and makeovers.
He takes off the mask (literally and metaphorically and the secret third meaning and fourth and—) and looks in the mirror and chastises Marc for not taking care of them then does exactly that because Steven Grant doesn’t see Marc or Jake of any of them as tools or means, but as people. He proves Marc wrong by just by existing.
Then we got Jake. JAKE FUCKING LOCKLEY!!! Our avuncular scoundrel’s first act when fronting is going to see his friends. Which I just. I love it. When he throws open the doors and says he’s back and is met with such love and care and enthusiasm. Which is such a magenta moment (passion and compassion and kindness and I’m not gonna get into the color theory of it all but the fact that his two colors are magenta and sooome green make me gigle🤭). But it also takes us back to the last issue where he laments losing their friends. Where Marc said he never needed them. Where Marc is obviously dead fucking wrong.
Jake’s not in his element, he’s at home. He’s with his people, and his people have him and it’s beautiful. And it’s how Jake takes care of them, by creating connections with everyone from all walks of life. Because, once again, everyone wants to be loved. So he goes out and makes jokes and earns trust and makes promises and gives and gets love and lives. He shows he — and by default the system — aren’t incapable of giving or receiving affection. He proves Marc wrong just by living.
And now. We got the biggun. Marc.
We’ve already established Marc’s issues with constantly needing to be in control stemming from his fear of being cast aside or deemed unlovable, said issues causing a lot of the problems in his life. What I love about this issue is that it works on dismantling those thoughts, one by one. If Steven and Jake prove Marc wrong, the rest of the Midnight Mission enforce those ideas by hammering them home with a comically oversized hammer. Soldier does what Soldier does: be the chillest fucking guy around. Badr obviously has his own Khonshu/religious tinted lense of looking at it but that doesn’t make him any less understanding. He just thinks Marc is a fucking idiot (and he’s not wrong!).
Then. Then. Reese. Reese who comes in, shatters every single insecurity and fear and preconceived notion Marc has about himself. Reese who doesn’t know about his past and doesn’t care because she sees what he’s trying to do now, the good he’s trying to do and is doing, and admires that. Reese who doesn’t push when that’s clearly what Marc is expecting her to do (because that’s probably what everyone has done, always done. Ask probing, invasive questions that he forces himself to answer and now he’s so used to them he’s constantly shocked when people don’t ask. He’s shocked when people care. He’s shocked when he finds himself caring.).
Reese. Who says…
…which is probably the first time anyone has said that to him. It’s probably the first time anyone has cared enough to even think it. The very thing Jake and Steven have been proving to him all issue, the thing Reese says so naturally and casually. It’s not a grand revelation from her, it’s not something she has to think about. Marc is enough and she knows it, Jake and Steven know it, the rest of the Midnight Mission and the community know it. The only who doesn’t, or didn’t, was Marc. And now. And now.
He does. And Reese and Steven and Jake will be damned if he forgets that anytime soon.
(AND VERY BRIEFLY I WANNA TALK AB THE COLORS!!! Ok so I’m absolutely in love with the colors Rosenberg chose. They vary a lot between pages but my color associations are: Steven gold, Jake magenta, Marc blue. There are a lot of pages where the characters swap colors or have different ones but I’m going to stick with these associations because they make sense to me.
Steven gold is probably the most clear cut one. Gold is a warm color, symbolizing wealth and generosity. Divinity and power. Steven is rich (or was) so there’s the wealth, I’d say the generosity comes from how he takes care of the body, mostly physically. There aren’t many pages where Steven appears in, but the one in the barber or whatever is where I’m drawing most of these thoughts from. Marc is also depicted with a lot of gold, particularly when he’s speaking to Dr. Sterman especially when he’s giving long ass melodramatic monologues. Which I find interesting, as those extended metaphors and speeches seem like his way of establishing control, or power, in a conversation which is generally supposed to end up with deep self evaluation and a certain amount of vulnerability that comes with giving up some of that control (he is talking to his therapist, after all, even if she doesn’t do a very good job of it but— that’s a story for another day)
Jake magenta is a very clearly shown visual. Magenta is another warm color, symbolizing passion and compassion, kindness and love. Jake is the Just Some Guy of the three, probably the most affable and easygoing, so magenta makes sense thematically for him as well. What’s also cool is that magenta is the primary, dominating color in a lot of his pages where he’s surrounded by people he cares about (I’m thinking of the last issue in his headspace emotional support strip club where all the dancers looked like Marlene and this issue at the bar with his friends). Almost as if he’s overflowing with love and care for others.
Both Jake and Steven appear in several pages where the primary color is green, which symbolizes growth, renewal, rebirth. This is the only cool color they’re depicted in, which is also interesting because Marc is almost exclusively shown in panels with cool colors (minus the gold ones I mentioned earlier). Marc also appears in pages with greens, particularly those where he talks to Soldier and Badr, symbolizing his growth of being able and willing to open up to them.
Finally, Marc blue has been a dominant color for basically this entire run. Blue is a cool color that symbolizes a lot, but I’ll stick with sadness, peace, security and freedom. Sadness is pretty obvious, but the other three are aspirational for him. And I think this is most clearly shown by the fact that the only exclusively blue Marc pages are the last two with Reese. Her understanding and words help take him one step closer to those things he’s always wanted, that love and understanding. And I think her wearing a YELLOW shirt also shows the positive influence and power her words have on him. Plus, it’s a good contrast against the background and his suit ;)
Last last thing I wanna mention about colors because wow this got out hand is the page where Marc takes off the mustache (NOOOOO) and introduces himself. It has all the colors I mentioned in a gradient, which imo symbolizes how he’s finally starting to work with Steven and Jake as a system, a team, and how they’re all separate parts but also parts of a whole. Also harkens back to earlier, when Marc mentioned he hasn’t asked Jake and Steven’s opinion. They aren’t perfect, there’s still some work to be done on communication, but they’re getting there and that’s what matters. It’s a great visual, and he even gets his emo anime boy hair back so win there, I guess😐)
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