The Vigil #5 (of 6)

AIPT

It’s my hope that I’m not overselling issue #5’s sheer importance — it feels like a quiet thing that creeps its way through your tear ducts to change your brain chemistry with a really inventive, slightly meta spin on superheroes. It’s an achievement for the creators in building a new and daring corner of DC, and one that I hope will reflect back onto other stories as this tale continues to grow in new and unexpected ways. I said it before, but, seriously, you’re not ready for this one at all.

Geek Dad

This series has always been fascinating, with some dark sci-fi elements lurking behind its Indian-based superhero/espionage tale. And at its core, not getting the same focus as its lead characters, were two mysterious figures—the Vigil’s eccentric leader, and the oddly intense small child he’s taken under his wing. For this penultimate issue, Ram V finally pulls back the curtain and reveals the formative tragedy that made this team possible—and reveals the threat coming for them. The reveal of a secret research program set during World War II, leading to an experiment that starts with shades of Fantastic Four, but eventually becomes something far closer to Event Horizon, is a great twist. However, it feels like every issue revealed a whole new story in this series, and with only one issue left to go, it’s hard to see how Ram V can tie everything up. Still, I’m very excited to see him try.

ComicBook.com

The Vigil #5 reveals the secret origins of the team, their secret backer, and the forces arrayed against them; it's the sort of concept that will thrill fans of Morrison or Borges, especially as it takes a set of (relatively) minor superpowered individuals and moves them towards the strangest boundaries of DC Comics. What's conceptually fascinating is not always met by the work depicted on the page. A stunning horror spread depicting a worst-case scenario of teleportation utilizes its layout and concepts well, but the lack of detail and inconcsistent linework throughout the issue struggles to consistently reach that profound mood. The sense of horror is absolutely vital to an issue in which much of the space is devoted to pure exposition, revealing the truth behind all things in this narrative. There is an idea that arrives by the end that everything until this point has been uncontextualized prologue and, given that this is issue 5 of 6, saving that big of a surprise for so long may serve to undermine the whole affair. The Vigil #6 will decide whether this miniseries stands out as one of DC's most ambitious additions in 2023 or an interesting effort that couldn't quite stick the landing.

Weird Science DC Comics

The Vigil #5 finally gets around to providing answers about the team's origins and setting the stakes for Dr. Hep's plans. Unfortunately, the answers come too late in the run to build on them, and Ram V's dogmatic pursuit of a particular story concept leads to basic plotholes.