Rain #2: Hell is Other People

Rain #2 is here! And it is good! Not that I was expecting anything less than from the creators, but it definitely keeps the momentum from #1 going. In this issue, we come face to face with the aftermath of the devastation caused by the rain. Facing the new realities of their life, we see Honeysuckle make the decision to head out into the world to try and find Yolanda’s father, hoping against hope that he survived the rain. 

This issue grapples with not just the aftermath of a natural disaster, but of grief, and what we as humans do when we are not ready to face our grief. Even though she has accepted that Yolanda has died, Honeysuckle is clearly not ready to face that loss, and the loss of the family which came with her. Which is why she makes the dangerous decision to head out to Denver, on foot, for 30 miles, to try and find Dr. Rusted, Yolanda’s father. It is during this journey where she encounters the ‘Church of the Seventh Dimensional Christ’, a dangerous cult, who are set out to stop her, because they believe that she may compromise Elder Bent, and stop their assertion to the seventh dimension. 

The creators here do a great job of highlighting the different faces of the aftermath of a tragedy. The conversations about the conspiracy theories about who exactly might be behind the rain are going to feel quite similar to those which may be taking place in our home right now, like the conversations about who exactly might be behind the Covid epidemic, and if some secret lab released it into the world. Additionally, we also see that there are those who will set out exploit peoples pain and suffering. Here, it is the cult of the Seventh Dimensional Christ, but it can easily be applied to other, real world cults and extremist religious organizations.  This roots the horrors of Rain into our world, and that is what makes it so effective. The horrors that Honeysuckle faces in Rain are not those of the supernatural kind, but rooted in reality, which makes it that much scarier! 

The artwork as always, is beautiful. The rich palette, the use of colour blocking and patters to fill the panels, create a stunning and striking effect. Thorogood and Halloran’s collaboration continues to be one of my favourites, and I am always excited to open the pages to see what they have in store for me that day!