Spectrum #4 by Rick Quinn & Dave Chisholm

Spectrum continues to be my favorite comic on the racks, due to its insistence on actively engaging with the comics form at every turn. A huge part of this is tied up with Chisholm handling colors and letters himself, affording him complete control of the page and the opportunity to use color and letter – not merely as a stage in the assembly line – but as essential narrative tools.

It’d be easy to chalk Spectrum up as an “artist book,” but to do so would be off-base and disregard Quinn’s contributions and eagerness to write to the comics medium. This is not a narrative that Chisholm found interesting ways to express; rather, it’s a project that has clearly been ideated as a comic from jump. This fact is evidenced by the book’s pacing and plot – which is distinct from standard three-act structures – as well as the way in which the book’s most breathtaking layouts are deployed. They are always of the narrative, contributing to the overall effect, such that they must have been ideated alongside the story.

Finally, I adore Quinn & Chisholm’s use of interstitial pages. Benefiting from Chisholm’s deliberately varied art and color styles, they offer up thematically tangential passages that are largely self-sufficient while also providing readers opportunities to discover thematic connections on their own.