Therefore, Repent!

Those Rapture freaks were right. Left-behind early-twentysomethings Raven and Mummy, named after what they wear, hit Chicago and take a teenager’s tip about an apartment. With a dog, food money, and no rent collector, they settle in. The dog comes home talking, soldiers start loosely patrolling, and people undergo interesting changes; for instance, when Raven takes off her mask, she looks exactly the same. Magic often works now, and the soldiers are angels come to clean up (i.e., terminate) sinners. Despite the angels, one of whom defects to Raven and Mummy’s new crowd, the most annoying post-Rapture phenom is “splitters,” who feel wronged by not being taken in the first wave (as they see it) and expect to be wafted aloft momentarily. Freakier stuff eventually happens, but the quirky, ambling story reaches no conclusions and offers few explanations. Novelist Munroe (Flyboy Action Figure Comes with Gas Mask, 1999) skirts boring us, but his collaborator has more than enough chops to keep us awake with his meaty figures, varied page-layouts, and, as needed, strong background detail. --Ray Olson