REVIEW: 'The Least We Can Do' #5 by Iolanda Zanfardino and Elisa Romboli

 

THE LEAST WE CAN DO #5  

Writer: Iolanda Zanfardino

Artist: Elisa Romboli

Publisher: Image Comics

Release Date: January 11, 2023

Cover Price: $3.99

Between taking part in a risky undercover mission at the new Buckingham Palace, beating up soldiers, feeding starving people, and striving to ignore the new tension between her and her captain, Uriel must also focus on her most important personal task...remaining true to herself.

Score:

★★★★1/2 (4.5/5)

What's been a slow build has given way to more action, drama, romance(?), and subterfuge. Now, that Uriel is proving her worth with her established powers, she's become a valuable member of the Rebels. Her eyes begin to wander in Sam's direction and noticing her hotness in the most distracting of ways. Meanwhile, the location of the next drop will take some dangerous undercover work. Issue five has a lot going on. 

'The Least We Can Do' by Iolanda Zanfardino and Elisa Romboli has started to pay off for fans who've stuck with it from the beginning. This penultimate issue features a lot of great storylines and subplots. The most rewarding aspect is the Rebels' seizure of goods and the distribution to people in need. There's a philanthropic nature to their raids that aids the most vulnerable giving their missions more urgency and legitimacy. This is the entire point of their training and planning among other things. It's literal class warfare that has put Uriel on the Rebels' side despite her harboring a secret about her past. There's also this new-found attraction to Sam that frankly, feels a little rushed and thrown in especially with one more issue to go 

Romboli's electrifying art continues to energize the series with beautifully rendered character designs and effervescent depictions. Whether it's action scenes or raucous ballroom antics, Romboli conveys the emotional spectrum with big reactions that are somewhat exaggerated but leave no question about what the character is feeling or thinking. It's sort of the outsized body language you find in anime so there's a buoyancy to the performance that can be fun, emotional, exciting, or risky. It's just a joy to witness page after page. 

'The Least We Can Do' is a miniseries finding its footing and really should have been a longer series. With one more issue to go, it's hard to imagine it all ending neatly and completely. Issue five has a lot going on and going for it. It is probably the best issue of the series and could use more time to build on it. Nonetheless, this arc feels like the first great chapter in a larger fantastic tale. Zanfardino and Romboli continue to bring rich characters into a world worth exploring further.