Supernatural #7
Writer: Greg Pak
Artist: Daniel Scalisi
Colorist: Ellie Wright
Cover Artist: John Amor
It’s been a little while since the last issue, so let’s start with:
The Road So Far
(Best read with Carry On My Wayward Son playing)
Brothers Sam and Dean Winchester, with help from their father’s journal, hunt monsters.
Investigating a series of spontaneous combustions, they meet the CEO of Windler Industries, Steff Windler, who turns out to be more evil than you’d expect a CEO to be.
A brief detour to Las Vegas involved a spirit haunting a casino, because these two can’t go anywhere without finding trouble.
While investigating murders in a live-action role-playing group, Dean’s beloved Impala needed repairs, so they “borrowed” a car that turned out to have a mind of its own!
Steff Windler returned and put the brothers on trial in a demonic court, which ended with her getting sent to Hell instead.
Escaping from Hell, Steff stole John’s journal. She was then double-crossed by her own father, who took the journal from her.
The Winchesters’ haunted car has apparently targeted Steff next…
Sins of the Father
I’ve stopped thinking of this series as “lost episodes” set during Seasons One and Two of the show. That’s what it says on the tin, but it’s very much telling its own long-form tale. Which is actually pretty good.
The Winchesters are trying to protect Steff Windler from their haunted car, which is trying to run her down. Except it’s not. It just wants her attention.
The car plays an old news report about a hit-and-run accident many years earlier, the suspect was Steff’s dad, Steffan Windler (creative names in that family). He said his car had been stolen an hour earlier. The real culprit was never found.
The trio travels to Pittsburgh to talk with the father of Jeannie, the girl who died. He recognizes the car as his daughter’s, but he can tell it’s not possessed by her—the car was brought to life by her love for it.
In New York, they confront Steff’s dad, who has John’s journal. He’s used it to “fake” the love needed to make objects like the car. In his case, giant robots. Yep, wouldn’t see the boys fighting those on the show. The secret to this power? Blood, of course. Specifically Sam’s.
Road Trip Bonding
Even though it’s a cross-country race against time, this issue slows the relentless pace of the series down a little; this gives us some strong character moments.
The previous issues were mostly focused on Sam, but this time the spotlight hits Dean and Steff. The attraction between the two seems out of nowhere, until you remember what a horndog Dean was in the early seasons. As he and Steff bond over their “daddy issues,” he actually says out loud that maybe John Winchester wasn’t the best dad. For him, that’s growth.
As for Steff, she turns out to have more depth than originally thought. She’s still evil, but maybe it’s not all by her own choice. Her father, though, sounds about as evil as they come. A true human monster, the kind that Sam and Dean can’t just kill.
The idea that a haunted car is more “human” than the evil CEO sounds crazy, but it’s very Supernatural. I wish the concept of objects being brought to life through love, not possession, were better explained. But I guess the very nature of the lowercase-s supernatural says that we don’t get all the answers.
Another nagging question—why giant robots? Sure, they looked cool, and it was fun to see the brothers fighting them, but what made Steffan Windler choose those for his experiment? It felt like they were picked for the “cool visual you could never do on a TV budget factor” alone.
I haven’t forgotten about Sam. For the first time in this series, he takes more of a backseat, but his personality still shows through. He gives Dean the kind of grief about Steff that only a little brother can, and his empathy lets him understand the car better than Dean or Steff. He’ll probably get back in the spotlight next issue, with the whole “Sam’s blood is the key” thing.
Calling Shotgun
In the early years of the TV series, Sam and Dean are the leads, and everyone else is a guest star. For this comic series, writer Greg Pak is the lead, and the rotating artists are his guest stars. This issue, Daniel Scalisi gets his turn in the passenger seat.
Greg Pak has had a strong handle on the characterization of Sam all along, but this issue shows that he gets Dean just as well. The thing that impressed me most here is how Pak slows the pacing enough to give everyone meaningful character development without sacrificing the “race against time to stop John’s journal from being used for evil” momentum. That’s a tough needle to thread, and he handles it perfectly.
None of the rotating artists on this series has particularly set my world on fire. Daniel Scalisi is one of the stronger ones in the group, so I’m glad he was used for this issue. His take on Sam and Dean resembles the actors enough that you immediately know who you're looking at, without looking traced as some “photorealistic” work can. He has a little bit of a cartoony style, but not so much that it detracts from what’s happening—more like everything has softer, rounder edges. The giant robots look cool, so that’s a big win.
The colors by Ellie Wright give this issue an almost anime look. It’s brighter overall than you’d expect from a Supernatural story, though most of the issue takes place during the day. Even the darker scenes avoid the heavy shadows and muted palette you’d normally associate with the franchise. Beyond the brightness, there is a sort of gloss or sheen over everything that gives that anime feel—especially during the giant robot fight, which makes sense. It gives the book a unique look.
Pit Stops
Once I stopped thinking about how this book fit alongside the early seasons of the show and just started enjoying the ride, I really enjoyed this issue. Supernatural #7 continues the overarching plot of the series while also giving Dean some time in the spotlight. Plus, they get to fight giant robots. For the first time in a while, I’m invested in the story being told and excited to see where it goes next.