By Cat Wyatt

Portal Bound #4 is the second to last in the series, and we still have quite a bit to deal with before it’s all said and done. In the last issue, Sybil ran off, intent to save her kingdom on her own. That would have been well and good, except she destroyed the portal on her way. That and there’s the fact that she and Eli are soul-bound, meaning that if she dies so does Eli. That makes this move of hers a bit more selfish than it looked at first glance. Hopefully, this issue will have the team getting back together.

This issue starts out with a flashback into Sybil’s past. Her mother sent her to a regular school in hopes of helping her make friends, but unfortunately, it backfired. Nobody wanted to play with the princess, especially not one that could accidentally seriously injure them. Plus they were likely also afraid of hurting her, and what the punishment would be for that offense.

The whole point of the flashback was likely to explain Sybil’s stubbornly independent streak. She got so used to not having anyone that she trained herself to believe she didn’t need anyone. This makes sense, but it’s also a little heartbreaking. Finally, we see into the mind and the emotional state of Sybil, it’s time to start understanding her better now hopefully.

Meanwhile, in the present time, Sybil is accepting that she’s once again alone. She’s convinced herself that she’s content with it and that it was inevitable really. She seems to believe that she can actually handle this herself, which is incredibly unlikely.

Back on earth the rest of the group is still recovering from what happened. They’re also planning and trying to figure out what to do next, something Sybil probably should have stopped to do. You’d think they’d be stuck in earth, waiting to see if Eli, and thus Sybil died, but that’s not the case.

You see, if Eli’s father was able to get into Sybil’s world that must mean there’s a portal nearby. One that they can use to get to the other world and help Sybil out. The room that Eli’s father had used for a study had always been locked, and it only now occurs to Eli why that must have been. It doesn’t take much to put two and two together from there, and even less time for Riley to get it operational.

To her credit, Sybil actually did a pretty good job of getting her way into the castle. She could have been quieter about it, but at least she knew and used some secret passages. This allowed her to reach her mother with little issue.

Naturally that means the issue comes from her mother. It turns out that her time spent alone with the king was enough to turn the side she’s on. That or Sybil was wrong about the situation from the beginning, which is entirely possible. Either way, it doesn’t really matter. What matters is that Sybil has been rendered unconscious and thus captured. So much for that plan. Looks like she’ll need the rest of the group to save her after all.

Everyone else arrives in the castle, thanks to Riley’s work. She picked one of the creepier spots possible, but since it was basically guaranteed to be empty it’s hard to argue with her logic. Unfortunately this is the place where Brett’s alternate was being held prisoner, so one thing led to another and Brett found himself bonded with the guy.

This might have been okay, if not for the fact that apparently those from earth are not the dominant ones in the situation. Not sure how that arrangement came to be, but that’s how it goes. We’ve seen three examples so far, and that seems to be the case for every single one of them, so it does hold up.

Riley ended up getting captured because of this, and with Brett being absorbed that leaves only Eli to figure out a solution and save everyone. He doesn’t have much time to come up with something though. With Riley being held prisoner it won’t be long before they force her to open up the portal to earth. Once that is done their people will flood the streets, finding their alternatives and forcing bonds everywhere. There won’t be much room for resistance, so that will not go well for earth.

This was an interesting issue. They still have a ton to wrap up in only one issue, but based on the pacing they’ve done so far that should be doable. It would have been nice if they had some more time to take a couple of these scenes more slowly, but it is what it is. Hopefully we’ll get all the answers we were hoping for in the next one.

Score: 4/5

Portal Bound #4
Aspen Comics