Visually stunning, daring, and inherently emotional, Assorted Crisis Events #5 is yet another stellar entry in one of the best comic series of 2025.
If you’ve been reading our site over the last couple of months, you’ll be well aware of how much we’ve rhapsodised about Deniz Camp’s epic, experimental sci-fi anthology series Assorted Crisis Events. Each issue so far has tackled heavy themes, and played around with immense concepts, all wrapped up in single issues that bring out the very best of the comics medium.
Issue #5 is about as daring and experimental as it gets — and the results are nothing short of spectacular. The story follows Anna (a palindrome, which is rather fitting to the story), who finds herself trapped in a 60-second loop of trauma, finding herself at the centre of a heated argument between her parents.
Camp and artist Eric Zawadzki utilise a ‘loop’ structure to develop each spread with some breathtaking 360-degree panels. It’s mind-bending and chaotic, with even the lettering twisting and bending to the new layouts. And we’re not just talking about standard circular loops either — there are both a spiral and even an infinity symbol. The levels of creativity and imagination on show is incredible.
Anna’s story is emotionally distressing and moving. While obviously heavily fantastical, it also plays on the fact that childhood trauma is hard to let go, it follows you for years.
Of course, like every other issue in this series, there’s another appearance of the recurring time-traveling man — a harbinger of doom. He’s not just a cameo character, either. The characters lightly interact with him. He’s as enigmatic to them as he is to us, the readers.
While this concept isn’t exactly novel, this issue achieves a loop-style story in a way only the comics medium can. It’s an excellent showing of what comics are capable of, all wrapped up in a tale of immense drama and emotion.
Rating: 5 stars out of 5
Assorted Crisis Events #5 is on sale now from Image Comics.
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