REVIEW: Reptil #4 Ends Perfectly (But Needs a Sequel)
In Reptil #4 by Terry Blas, Enid Balám, Victor Olazaba, Carlos Lopez, and Joe Sabino, we get the conclusion to the four-issue Reptil miniseries from Marvel Comics, and it’s a perfect cap to this outstanding run!
Reptil #4. Photo: Marvel Comics
With multiple storylines that each get resolved in this final issue – including one that has been going on right under your snout, whether you noticed it or not – this run is the platonic ideal for a Marvel series, paying service to both established characters and new heroes alike!
Photo: Marvel Comics
If you’re a fan of Marvel Comics, you owe it to yourself to pick up these four issues (or at least do yourself the favor of purchasing the Trade Paperback of the series, which should collect all four issues and be available soon). But if you aren’t a fan of Marvel (or dinosaurs) yet… then Reptil would be a perfect place to start!
Reptil’s Big Bang
My favorite thing about Reptil #4 is something that I didn’t even notice the first read-through (and yes, this issue, and series, is worth a second, third, and maybe even a 165th read through)! Not sure what I mean? Take a look at this spoiler-y tweet from series writer Blas:
https://twitter.com/TerryBlas/status/1442583142997450756?s=20
Each of these panels comes from one of the four issues of Reptil, and it tells an important story from the miniseries: how Reptil learned to become a legendary Quetzalcoatlus!
Photo: Marvel Comics
This subplot integrates everything that’s great about Blas’ version of the young hero Humberto Lopez: the relationship Humberto has with his cousins, Eva and Julian (who gave him an app that taught him new dinosaurs to transform in to, and who continue to fight by his side throughout the final issue), Reptil’s heritage (embodied by the name of the Pterosaur in question and his parents legacy as paleontologists), and of course, DINOSAURS!
Photo: Marvel Comics
The other aspect of this issue that I really enjoyed was the continued inclusion of Southern California locales.
Photo: Marvel Comics
Just like previous issues in this series, Reptil #4 features a Los Angeles setting, and the characters visit a location outside of Palm Springs too, and as a Californian, that sense of place is one of the best things about this run!
The “Cabazon dinosaurs” are a roadside attraction near Cabazon, California. Photo: David McNew/Getty Images
While this fourth issue is a perfect conclusion to the series, we are sorry to see this cast of characters go! When will we get another run of Reptil with this creative team? Not soon enough!
Photo: Marvel Comics
But in the meantime, you can check out the character’s appearance in Champions’ OUTLAWED (2020), and learn a little about how Humberto ties into that story by reading the interview Blas did with Kat Calamia at GamesRadar.
Photo: Marvel Comics
Reptil #4
While Reptil may have concluded, we’ll get to see more of Humberto’s cousin Eva soon, in a story written by Blas for Marvel’s Voices: Comunidades #1.
Marvel’s Voices – Comunidades #1 Cover by Joe Quesada. Photo: Marvel
Have you had a chance to pick up the four issues of Reptil, Marvel Blog True Believers? We want to hear what you think! Give us a shout-out and let us know in the comment section.
