Elena Abbott is one of Detroit’s toughest reporters. And after defeating the dark forces that murdered her husband, she’s focused on the most important election in the city’s history.

But when someone uses dark magic to sabotage the campaign of the prospective first Black mayor of Detroit, it becomes clear to Abbott that the supernatural conspiracy in her city is even greater than she ever imagined. Now Abbott must exhaust all her abilities as a reporter and a supernatural savior to rescue Detroit—but at what cost to her own life?

Abbott 1973 follows up Boom! Studios’ Hugo Award-nominated Abbott series. Check out our spoiler-free review of issue #4 below. (Need to catch up? Here’s the scoop on the previous issues.)

Abbott 1973 #4 Review

In the penultimate issue of Abbott 1973, Elena enlists the help of her friends to get her girlfriend back. With her brother Elmer and his made-of-muscle war vet friend, the trio go up against both organized crime and the supernatural forces at work in Detroit.

This issue has a good emotional through line and big displays of Elena’s power. We get a flashback to Elena and Amelia’s connection as kids, which builds the urgency to save her in the present. Elena also connects more to her brother, who helps encourage her and remind her of her strength in her darkest moment. And she definitely gets to show off that strength in this issue! There’s not one, but two major showdowns for Elena to really bring the light and step into her power.

However, this issue was also a bit exposition-heavy and the plot doesn’t flow as well as it could. The story opens with Elena and her crew facing off against the gangsters who’ve kidnapped Amelia. Then the Umbra crashes the party, and Amelia disappears (again) in the confusion. To figure out where Amelia might have been taken now, Elena visits an old reporter friend. A tragic story he covered in the past leads the crew to a new location for Amelia, where Elena breaks out her powers again in a major showdown.

It’s not a bad structure, exactly, but the pacing feels off. The story obviously didn’t want to linger on the other reporter, but his interaction with Elena was so brief it didn’t feel earned. Elena still mostly works everything out on her own, which makes the detour stand out in a bad way. The way the story jumps from one fight to the next somehow makes them both less impactful.

Still, issue 4 ends on a good cliffhanger setting up the final issue. This story makes it clear both Elena’s powers and her mental and emotional strength will be tested in her final battle.

You can grab Abbott 1973 issue #4 now from Boom! Studios.