Every issue of BOOM! Studios Lawful has been excellent so far. The high fantasy morality tale by Greg Pak and Diego Galindo has been building its characters, and its world, and wasting no time pushing them in nuanced and surprising ways. But in some ways, it feels like everything has been leading up to Lawful #4, the most emotionally charged issue of the series yet.
The concept, if you haven’t been reading it… Lawful takes place in a world where if you break the rules, it shows up physically on your body. And it doesn’t slow roll, either. In a matter of days, our hero Sung has turned from a righteous kid with no blemishes to — after some very minor transgressions — a man with a chest of red dragon armor. Despite his position supporting the city, and his sick mother, in this issue they’re kicked out and need to move to the outskirts where the other “monsters” live.
You may be able to see where this is going. But nobody outside the city is a monster, physical appearance aside. In fact, while life isn’t easy — there’s no access to the medicine Sung’s mother needs to survive, for example — it’s much freer than the strict rules the city imposes on its citizens.
There’s a lot to dig into in the series in general about how we treat those living outside society’s norms, how a homogenous culture can oppress those deemed different, and most importantly how our own expectations of worth don’t match the reality of living in the world. That’s present in this issue, as it was in the previous three.
But what elevates this fourth issue is the relationship between Sung and his mother. She’s been somewhat on the sidelines of the story so far but is front and center here. Sung’s memories of his mother, presented concurrently on the page by Galindo, are a punch in the gut. We see her being proud of him for being good in the past; and him feeling in the present that he’s disappointed her entirely. That’s not even getting into the second half of the issue, which has a lovely calm to it… Until the outside world and tragedy begin to encroach. In particular, there’s one full page spread by Galindo showing Sung and his mother, surrounded by their new society, the city in the distance that packs in so much information and emotion… It’s stunning.
Overall, Lawful does what the best of fiction always does: it holds a mirror to society and asks questions. But here in the fourth issue, Pak and Galindo take the time to dig into the series’s central emotional relationship, and it’s beautiful to behold. Or in short? Lawful good.
Lawful #4 Rating:
Lawful #4 Official Synopsis:
The worst happens to Sung and his mother, after they’re forced to leave their home.
His mother has lost access to her medication and they now live among the more monstrous commoners-but their new neighbors aren’t what they seem!
However, with the Champion announcing a new offensive plan in the wilds, Sung sees an opportunity to reset their standing.