ODIN #4 (TINY ONION/IMAGE COMICS)
The Odinists continue to make their way through the nightmare that they have come to be a part of in the Norwegian wilderness. But if you thought their story was wild and crazy, you haven’t seen nothing yet. What happens when reality and fantasy collide and force them all to face a new truth that they all imagined was real, but never truly believed?
Odin #4 - Written By Marguerite Bennett & James Tynion IV – Art By Letizia Cadonici – Colors By Jordie Bellaire – Letters By Tom Napolitano – Edited By Steve Foxe & Eric Harburn - Published By Tiny Onion/Image Comics
Credit: Tiny Onion/Image Comics
***POSSIBLE SPOILER WARNING***
STORY OVERVIEW:
After watching what happened to Kevin, Robert, and Tanner, Adela calls out Fred for leading them into some strange sacrifice for his own glory. Fred of course rejects this theory and states that they chose what happened themselves and that they were unworthy to meet Odin. Before Adela can convince the rest of the group, the most unexpected thing happens. A giant woman appears and Fred recognizes her as Skadi the Grim, wife of Odin himself. Adela and the others can’t believe their eyes, and it even makes any of the lesser believers including Adela become instant believers. Fred tells them if they hope to have an audience with Odin, they must make Skadi laugh. Can they figure out how to make a giant god laugh or will they parish by the hand of Skadi as they are deemed unworthy.
WRITING:
This issue takes a series that has already kept readers on edge and pushes it into far more unpredictable territory. Marguerite Bennett and James Tynion IV continue to build tension by placing the characters and the audience inside a situation where every explanation feels possible, yet none feels completely trustworthy. The opening confrontation gives Adela a strong voice as she finally says what readers have likely suspected from the beginning: Fred may be manipulating the group, possibly through drugs or some carefully staged ritual designed to feed his ego. Her accusation works because it is grounded in the fear, confusion, and loss the group has already experienced. Fred’s response, however, is even more disturbing. Rather than showing remorse for what happened to Kevin, Robert, and Tanner, he insists that they made their own choices and were simply unworthy of meeting Odin. That exchange sharpens the conflict between belief and skepticism while revealing just how dangerous Fred’s devotion has become.
The arrival of Skadi the Grim completely changes the terms of the story. Until this moment, the horror could still be explained as manipulation, collective hallucination, or the psychological collapse of people trapped in an isolated wilderness. By making Skadi physically present and recognizable to Fred the writers tear away that safety net. The supernatural is no longer an idea hovering around the edges of the narrative; it becomes an undeniable force standing in front of the characters. What makes the reveal especially effective is the way it affects Adela and the other doubters. Their skepticism does not gradually weaken through argument or persuasion. It collapses under the weight of what they see, creating a frightening moment in which disbelief turns into instant devotion. That reversal gives Fred new authority and leaves the group even more vulnerable to whatever he demands next.
The command that the group must make Skadi laugh before they can meet Odin is bizarre, but that is precisely why it works. It gives the issue a dark, mythic logic in which survival depends on pleasing a god whose expectations are impossible to understand. The challenge also creates room for several different kinds of tension. It can become a test of loyalty, a humiliating performance, or another excuse for Fred to push the group toward cruelty and sacrifice. Bennett and Tynion IV use that uncertainty to keep the reader off balance. Even when the characters appear to receive a clear objective, there is no assurance that success will protect them or that Fred understands the rules any better than anyone else.
The larger reveal that Asgard and its gods may be real opens the story to several exciting possibilities, but it also carries some risk. The earlier issues drew much of their power from ambiguity, leaving readers unsure whether they were witnessing supernatural horror, religious fanaticism, or an elaborate act of human manipulation. Confirming the mythology could weaken some of that uncertainty if the final chapter becomes too focused on spectacle or explanation. Still, the reveal is set up with enough confidence that it feels like an escalation rather than a random twist. The writers preserve suspense by raising new questions faster than they answer old ones: Why has Skadi appeared now? Is Fred truly chosen, or is he only useful? What does Odin want from this group, and what price will an audience with him demand? As the series moves toward its conclusion, those questions give the story multiple directions to explore. The issue may be flirting with jumping the shark, but its nightmarish atmosphere, sharp character conflict, and commitment to unsettling the reader make the gamble compelling. At this point, the creative team has earned the opportunity to follow the idea through and show whether this mythic turn can deliver a conclusion worthy of the tension they have built.
ARTWORK:
The artwork in this issue is eerily beautiful, giving the Norwegian wilderness a visual identity that feels both inviting and deeply hostile. Letizia Cadonici emphasizes the enormous scale of the landscape, often making the Odinists appear small and exposed within wide, open spaces. That contrast reinforces the group’s isolation: there is nowhere safe to hide, yet the environment is so vast that escape feels equally impossible. The trees, rocky terrain, and distant horizons are rendered with enough restraint to keep the pages readable, but every location still carries a cold, dreamlike quality. The setting never becomes mere background decoration. It functions as an active source of dread, surrounding the characters with a natural world that seems ancient, indifferent, and increasingly connected to the supernatural forces closing in on them.
Cadonici’s character work is especially important during the confrontation between Adela and Fred. The tension is communicated not only through dialogue, but through posture, facial expression, and the physical distance between the members of the group. Adela’s resistance gives the scene a necessary human center, while Fred’s controlled certainty makes him visually unsettling even before the supernatural reveal. The other believers often appear caught between them, creating compositions that reflect the group’s shifting loyalties. These reactions become even more effective when Skadi arrives, because the characters’ stunned body language immediately communicates the scale of what they are seeing. Their expressions allow the reader to experience the revelation alongside them rather than simply observing it from a distance.
The introduction of Skadi the Grim is the issue’s strongest visual sequence. Her immense size is established through careful framing and the tiny figures gathered before her, but Cadonici avoids overloading the design with unnecessary ornamentation. Skadi’s comparatively simple form makes her more intimidating because she feels less like a conventional fantasy character and more like something elemental that has stepped out of myth. Her presence is readable at a glance, yet the longer she remains on the page, the stranger and more oppressive she becomes. That tension between simplicity and scale gives the sequence its power. Skadi inspires awe, but the composition never lets the reader forget that the group is standing in front of a being who could destroy them without effort.
Jordie Bellaire’s colors deepen the atmosphere by keeping much of the issue within a muted, restrained palette. The cool and subdued tones make the wilderness feel drained of warmth, reinforcing the hopelessness and emotional exhaustion hanging over the group. Because the dominant colors are so controlled, the selective use of red becomes impossible to ignore. Red draws the eye toward moments of danger, violence, ritual, or revelation without overwhelming every page. Its scarcity is what gives it force: each appearance feels like a warning that something has shifted or that the story is moving closer to bloodshed. Bellaire’s palette also helps bridge the issue’s movement from grounded psychological horror into full mythic fantasy, allowing the supernatural elements to feel like an escalation of the existing nightmare rather than a sudden break from it.
The visual pacing remains strong throughout the issue, moving from tense close-ups and uncertain reactions to wider compositions that reveal the full scope of the characters’ predicament. That progression makes the increasingly fantastical material feel earned. Tom Napolitano’s lettering supports the artwork by keeping dialogue and exposition clear without crowding Cadonici’s imagery, while shifts in emphasis help Fred’s declarations and the supernatural moments carry additional weight. The final-page reveal brings every element together: composition, scale, color, and pacing all push the reader toward a striking image that expands the world while preserving its sense of danger. Rather than allowing the fantasy to soften the horror, the art team makes the mythology feel colder, larger, and more threatening. The result is an issue whose visuals do more than illustrate the plot; they control the reader’s sense of isolation, disbelief, and awe from the opening confrontation through the final reveal.
CHECK OUT MY REVIEW OF ODIN #3
Final Thoughts:
Odin #4 delivers a bold and unsettling escalation, blending psychological horror with mythic fantasy without losing the tension that has defined the series. Strong character conflict, haunting artwork, and the imposing arrival of Skadi make this a memorable penultimate issue that leaves the story poised for a compelling finale.
FINAL GRADE: 8.5/10
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