Writer: Alisa Kwitney, James Finn Garner & Bryce Ingman
Artist, Colorist & Cover Artist: Mauricet
Short Story Illustrations: Joe Orsak & Elliott Mattice
Letterer: Rob Steen
Design: John J Hill
Production: Rob Steen
Editor: Tom Peyer
Publisher: Ahoy Comics
Price: $3.99
Release Date: May 28, 2025
The last time Ziva and Bert made love, her cigarette knocked him out. She doesn't understand how something her doctor prescribes for late periods could infect her boyfriend. A bottle of wine cured Bert's ills. But then it did something worse. The incident prompted Bert to channel Mr Darcy while proposing to her. Appalled by Bert's duplicity, Ziva calls her parents and learns that the same illness has infected her father. Can Ziva protect the world against Jane Austen fans from outer space? Let's grab a bottle of wine, leap into Howl #5, and find out!
Story
Ziva didn't realize an alien entity had taken over her boyfriend's body. Worse, the alien pretended to be Bert, making their relationship a lie. But with her parents in danger, there's no time for Ziva to nurse her grief. A chance meeting with cigarette-smoking bikers gets Ziva a ride to Ettingers Resort Hotel. But can Ziva convince the bikers to aid her cause?
Ziva arrives amid an alien invasion of the resort. In Howl #5, the alien invaders belong to a community of spores or fungus that overtakes the host entity's consciousness. The simplest solution would be to kill anyone overtaken by the spores. But while battling the alien invaders, Ziva realizes that when the spores invade their hosts, they don't overwhelm their personalities. Instead, they give them another dimension.
Alisa Kwitney's zany science fiction story portrays change as part of life. It also reminds us that the roles we choose to play, whether they work or relationship-related, define and limit us. Our consciousness may not be composed of thousands of spores. Still, we are creatures of immense complexity, gifted in innumerable ways, and capable of doing many things.
Art
Mauricet’s art transports us back to the 1950s in Howl #5. Bikers in black leather jackets with oiled hair evoke the Fonz, while the monsters that spring from their converted hosts evoke pulp-era Sci-fi. Ziva imagines herself as a spacewoman attacked by a bug-eyed monster. But then, her former boyfriend was a science fiction writer. As chaos breaks out at the resort, Ziva and the bikers demonstrate the deadly effects of second-hand smoke. While anxious to embrace her daughter, Ziva’s mother bashes anyone sprouting spores or tentacles with her purse.
Secret Fortress One-Star Reviews On Airbnb
If you grew up watching Batman episodes on TV, spending the night in Bruce Wayne’s Batcave might sound like a blast. In James Finn Garner's one-page prose story, the Bearman has rented out his crimefighting hideaway to travelers. Joe Orsak's illustration suggests what the Bearman's secret headquarters might look like. The travelers, tourists, and fans who deride the Bearcave’s defects as a plush resort remind us that reality often falls short of our imagination.
The Gnome Problem
When Sebastian meets Grimble, he fears the bearded little man. But with his wife out of town, he decides to take a chance and befriend the lone gnome. His act of bravery and friendship introduces him to gnome culture and helps him realize why his tiny friend grows a beard. Elliott Mattice contributes two illustrations to Bryce Ingman's two-page prose story about the similarities between two species and how someone from one culture can benefit another.
Final Thoughts
As the battle for humanity's hold on Earth reaches a crescendo, Howl #5 ponders how we continue to change as we grow. Two short stories about our relationships with superheroes and gnomes round out this delightful alien invasion science fiction series.
Rating 9.6/10
To look inside see my preview of Howl #5.
