ALABASTER

MATURE READERS No sooner has Dancy been reunited with Maisie than she finds her lover violently wrested from her embrace! Now, as Maisie is held captive by a psychotic pair of gun-toting sisters, Dancy risks everything to save the woman she loves-even if it means dying . . . again.

MATURE READERS Dancy Flammarion was content to spend eternity in the nothingness of hell, but when a twisted pair of incestuous bounty hunters initiates a dark ritual, she finds herself unceremoniously cast from the afterlife into the deadly waters of the bayou! Now, new dangers are stalking Dancy, some of whom wear familiar faces…

Our deadly, psychotic, bloodthirsty hero is dead. Who will save us now? Maisie makes a meager living conning the bereaved, even as she still mourns the loss of her friend and lover Dancy. But a pair of twisted bounty-hunting twins are planning to enact a mysterious occult ritual, and Maisie may soon find herself confronting a ghost from her own past.

Our deadly, psychotic, bloodthirsty hero is dead. Who will save us now? Maisie makes a meager living conning the bereaved, even as she still mourns the loss of her friend and lover Dancy. But a pair of twisted bounty-hunting twins are planning to enact a mysterious occult ritual, and Maisie may soon find herself confronting a ghost from her own past.

Caitlin R. Kiernan and Steve Lieber could teach a class about how to create a conclusion to a mini-series based on “Alabaster: Wolves” #5. Their comic about Dancy Flammarion trapped in a town infested with werewolves wraps up the first “Alabaster” mini-series, but does so in a way that avoids the ongoing-series-of-mini-series trap readers so often see. In other words, this issue does anything but restore a status quo. Kiernan demonstrates in “Alabaster: Wolves” #5 that the previous four issues have all led up to this big conclusion of her opening story arc. All three characters — Dancy, Maisie, and Bird — have one final big moment lurking around the corner for them, and Kiernan doesn’t hold back on that front. Characters end up situations that are worse than when this story began, and Kiernan gets them there in a startling way. The changes are big and sudden and — just like life itself — come at the reader with no warning. Even more important, though, is the big confrontation awaitin