After reuniting in Spirit World #3,  Xanthe, Batgirl, and Constantine fight together against an unknown evil. Even so, the heroes seem to be one battle ahead and step behind the malevolent being pulling the strings.

Resident Evils

Alyssa Wong shifts gears by uniting the unlikely team of heroes on the trail of an all powerful adversary in the Spirit World. As it happens, the heroes learn that Bowen and Po Po's apartment building is under demonic possession. In fact, the entire building's inhabitants merge together into a brand new flesh-like collection of souls. Additionally, the Antagonist has the eerie ability to call out to Xanthe through the powerful collection. Worse of all, if the collection touches you, it can assimilate or steal your memories! Even though the heroes initially come to the building to help its residents, they end up wondering if they can even save themselves.

The bulk of Spirit World #4 takes place in the middle of the conflict with the building itself. Primarily, a series of sequential action scenes mapped out like an RPG campaign. Firstly, Xanthe fends off the jiangshi with whatever constructs they have left over. Ironically, Bowen and Granny Po Po just so happen to retrieve the "joss paper" Xanthe needs. Furthermore, as the collection briefly absorbs Constantine, the team prepares for an exorcism before the Hellraiser unsurprisingly saves himself! With everyone back at full power, the battle culminates in double-paged spread featuring swordplay, arcane magic, batarangs, and for some reason; a skateboard.

Clearing The Stage

One of this issue's biggest reveals involves Shen's transformation into his massive Divine Fox form. Although momentarily on their side, Granny Po Po hypes up Shen's bloodlust as something she's been long afraid to see again. Living up to his epithet, Shen the "Soul Devourer" strikes out against the collective by feeding on its souls. Alternatively, Shen hints that Granny Po Po may have garnered her own infamy as the Verdant Sorceress in her day. However, whatever magic she has left has largely diminished over time.

As the battle winds down, Xanthe faces the reality that they cannot possibly free every soul within the collective. Instead, after some convincing, Xanthe elects to save a child and a mortally wounded Bowen. Weirdly enough, the exorcism ends up putting Xanthe out for three days like a stereotypical Shonen manga trope. Although, there's something unavoidably stupid about the entire plot screeching to a halt until Xanthe awakens again. Despite saving her friend, a portion of Bowen's spirit deteriorates and he loses his memory. Regardless, this new development repilots their goals for a third time and leads them to seek out the "Jade Court" to reverse the effects. Of course, just as Po Po warns that this newly name-dropped organization is too dangerous to seek out, the antagonist beckons them anyway.

Recommended If...

• Spirit World is your favorite DC title right now!
• You don't mind Constantine letting teenagers tell him what to do.
• You're a fan of manga or manwha style art/tropes.

Overall

Overall, Spirit World #4 operates like a video game boss stage. Basically, a protagonist with a mysterious past teams up with an elder mage and a edgy warrior to go on a series of dangerous quests in a mythical world. The team spends time gathering resources to beat the mini boss, and even teams up with an overpowered temporary ally whom leaves the party. Given that, there isn't much depth to this particular chapter. It isn't particularly bad, but the use of tropes, clichés, and unoriginal dialogue isn't impressive either. Hopefully it gets back to some compelling storytelling, but for now it has the appeal of a mindless "beat 'em up" video game.

Score: 6/10

DISCLAIMER: DC Comics provided Batman-News with a copy of this comic for the purposes of this review.