HOME #5
Writer: Julio Anta
Artist: Anna Wieszczyk
Publisher: Image Comics
Release Date: August 18, 2021
Cover Price: $3.99
MINISERIES FINALE!
Juan's rage comes to a head, and the world will never be the same again.
Score:
★★★★☆ (4/5)
'Home' #5 represents the final issue of the miniseries by Julio Anta, Anna Wieszczyk, and Bryan Valenza. It also stands for a unique opportunity taken by Image Comics to allow these creators to tell a story about a very real issue, heightened by superpowers, that became politicized but is really about human rights. Asylum seekers were vilified and dehumanized under the last administration while conservative media portrayed them as thugs and criminals. The reality was these were people fleeing their homelands for their own safety and prosperity and their children. They are human beings desperately in search of a better life. A goal every human has a right to aspire to and asylum is a legitimate legal process. Yet, some immigrants are treated worse than others.
'Home' depicted what happens when a mother and son take the long journey to the U.S. border to seek asylum and reunite with family already living in the country. With a hard line on any immigration, the two are quickly separated and the mother is deported. Juan realizes his powers and escapes from a detention center. ICE agents become the heartless and cold-blooded villains of the series relentlessly tracking him down. Is it a fair portrayal? Considering the reports from these detention centers and the abuse immigrants were subjected to, the portrayal seems tame by comparison.
ICE finally has a location on Juan from witness accounts leading into this finale. It's the showdown we expected and Juan finally feels comfortable using his powers to defend himself. He gets some assistance from his superpowered cousins and his aunt. What started as a sober look at this country's draconian immigration system evolved into an exciting superhero family drama. The transition may have been a little heavy-handed but it's important to see an unvarnished and simplified look at a travesty that loses the humans behind the headlines. In a hotly contentious political climate, the lack of humanity in our systems gets distorted to fit a certain narrative. Anta wants to remind readers these are just people, not some nefarious boogeymen. The fear, determination, resiliency, anger, hope, and pain Juan and Mercedes display are what makes them human and anyone who risks it all to get here deserves an opportunity.
'Home' concludes in a dramatic fashion, with one final showdown while giving its characters hope. What started as one nation's shameful cruel policies gave birth to heroes in a land that doesn't appreciate them. Anta presented a hard look at a very real issue, shone a light on it, and organically extracted a wonderful superhero story with a ton of potential. It ends far too soon. There is certainly a lot of untapped storylines waiting to be explored from the pages of 'Home.'
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