For five issues now, Mia has been tossed around by circumstance. A scientist sent to investigate her father’s possible murder on an underwater station six miles below the surface of the ocean, she has been met with one disruption after the next. Sabotage, giant squids, rescue missions, crazed chefs, it has been nonstop survival with almost zero actual detective work on Mia’s part. It seems like she hasn’t slept in days and that no one wants to actually figure out what happened to her father. This has been just as frustrating for Mia as it has been the reader.

With Dept.H #6, I began to feel weary. Would there be another problem that they have to deal with adjacent to the story? Even one of the characters remarks that it has been nonstop. Matt Kindt, being as smart as he is, knows he’s waited just long enough and spends this issue motivating Mia to take some action. The discovery that motivates Mia makes perfect sense, and we’re ready, along with Mia, to take control and start shaking some things up.

It’s what’s in between the action though that sits with me. The lessons Mia learned as a child seem to take on more and more importance. A perfect example of this is Mia remembering a conversation with her father about what the most important commodity is on a long exposition. In a mystery that is just as much a whodunit as a why, the psychology and the belief systems of the characters are going to matter just as much. Now that the visceral moments of this journey might calm down, Kindt will let us really dig into these characters and what they believe. With this in mind, I’m looking forward to Issue #7.