Phantom Road #3: Highway to Hell

For better or worse, the jigsaw puzzle plot has become a core ethos in serialized narrative storytelling. The trope boils down to a series-long mystery in the plot, leaving the audience confused until the end of the story. Depending on the quality of writing and craft for a series, that confusion can either be an intentional choice or a byproduct of refusing to establish a foundation in genre storytelling. Three issues in, it’s still unclear if Phantom Road is taking path A or B. 

Phantom Road #3 – written by Jeff Lemire with art from Gabriel H. Walta, colors by Jordie Bellaire, and letters and design work from Steve Wands – puts the pedal to the metal, taking a detour from Dom and Birdie to focus on the FBI agent tasked with investigating the plot points of the first two issues. Agent Theresa Weaver is tasked with investigating the scene of the wreckage that kicked off the series, along with the creature that Dom killed on the side of the road. 

As Weaver connects the dots between the dead body, the crash site from issue one, and the various truck stops, it becomes clear there are more questions than answers in this mystery. The investigation is interrupted by Weaver’s flashbacks, revealing some connection between her childhood and the Phantom Road that Dom and Birdie found themselves in. Billy Bears seems to be a nexus point for the weird occurrences and a gateway to the desert realm, and Weaver has an odd connection to both. The issue ends playing on that connection, as she’s attacked in her hotel room as words from her father echo. 

The shift in perspective takes this issue to a higher gear, providing additional context and a compelling new angle to the story. Weaver is like a cipher that makes the series click in that she becomes a persuasive protagonist that takes action compared to the reactive Dom and Birdie. While the duo makes for a strong introduction, the sophomore issue made apparent an acceleration was missing to keep this story engaging. Between Dom’s stoicism and Birdie’s shellshock, a lack of forward momentum made the second issue feel like it was spinning its wheels. Weaver’s introduction, connection to the other world, and laser focus on investigating give the series a new heat. 

‘The layering of Weaver’s present-day investigation with the brief glimpses of her time on the Phantom Road starts to pave the way for an interesting collision between the Agent and the book’s leads. The focus on Weaver, and her flashes back to an alternate reality, also find a way for Lemiere to continue to thread the mystery that doesn’t feel repetitive. For example, circling back to the start of the issue, Weaver’s lack of reaction to the creature’s corpse makes sense with the knowledge that she may have encountered these beings before. 

That strong balance of past and present achieves an exciting rhythm on the page, thanks to Walta’s layouts. In the first instance of flashback, Walta drops it into a silent page, with a single wide panel of a young Weaver holding someone’s hand, before returning to a panel in the same shape and size. It’s a quick flash, like an intrusive thought that doesn’t derail the sequence. Bellaire’s lighter, sepia-infused palette evokes the Phantom Realm’s look before a short return to the darker colors of the real world.  

The next time a flashback occurs, it’s much more disruptive, breaking the flow of an eight-panel page that leads into two single image pages. These pages show the wide shot of a destroyed Billy Bear in the Phantom realm before switching to the reverse shot of young Weaver standing in the parking lot, clasping a man’s hand. There’s no time to orient oneself now, as Walta and Bellaire shift the world back to the base reality. It becomes a short action sequence that allows Walta to play up the shock and violence of the scene before a solid page of black. It’s a startling progression that sets a new pace and tone for the story in the future.