In this review of Gehenna: Naked Aggression #4, Gehenna faces off against Isa’s men once and for all. And there’s a new development with her debt…
Gehenna: Naked Aggression #4
Writer: Patrick Kindlon
Art and Main Cover: Maurizio Rosenzweig
Variant Covers: Rodrigo Yoshimiya, Crom Carpenter
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: September 24, 2025
At the drug den, Gehenna’s prepared to barter for the weapons she needs, with one of the guys in particular having a very specific payment in mind. Not only that, but he’s seen her on the news recently.
Meanwhile, Isa is making a little pre-mission meal for herself, as Linra berates her for doing so and questions her leadership. Isa informs everyone working under her that SHE is the one in charge, and that they’d do best not to forget it.
Back at the drug den, Gehenna has gotten her new gun (and has dispatched the utter lech she was dealing with earlier). After a brief scuffle with some of the other guys there, she grabs Stephen and runs again.
As they’re riding away, the car driven by Linra and some of Isa’s guys rams into their bike, knocking both of them off. Linra goes to get a hold of the kid, as Gehenna fights with the guys sent after her. She eventually fights Linra, the latter gets the upper hand…which is when Isa makes good on her self-note to kill Linra later.
Stephen finds out his aunt wants him dead, Gehenna finds out his father died a week prior, and then comes the biggest reveal of all: Kamiisa had her debt, but then offloaded it to the Magalhes family. If she turns Stephen over to her, she’s willing to talk to them about dropping the matter…But Gehenna has no intention of doing that, as she and the kid get the hell out of there.
So, Gehenna: Naked Aggression #4 was a fitting end to this chapter of Gehenna’s story. It may be the end of this particular story, but there’s a promise of more to come next year, as she’s pretty much guaranteed to be in conflict with the family that owns her debt now.
There’s also the very strong possibility that she has a new son, now, in the form of Stephen. It’s not like he can go home again: his aunt wants him dead. Going into foster care would be a tricky thing; they’d have to forge a few things to pull that off, possibly change his appearance, because if Gehenna’s on the news for taking him, then of course his face would have been plastered on every news broadcast about it, as well. Add to that the part where he (in under a week, mind you) has probably seen more traumatic stuff than some people twice his age.
With how she’d had him pitch in and help out along the way, it feels like there’d definitely be a bit more on-the-run training. Either way, I look forward to seeing where things go.
The artwork in Gehenna: Naked Aggression #4 had a fun dynamic quality to it. Special mention for that goes to those panels at the Bean (which, I hadn’t thought about where it was set, but it was still nice to get some indication for that). The reflections are a bit warped, thanks to the curve of the sculpture, which makes the whole scuffle even more of a visual treat than it would be without it. That scene had to either be a lot of fun for the artist or one of those situations where it’s like: “That was a headache, but I soldiered on”, but either way, it paid off.
Gehenna: Naked Aggression #4 featured a strong character contrast between Isa (a shady figure with some soul) and Linra (a clearly broken person). Linra’s specific attacks on Isa, such as calling her “fat” and criticizing her meal, made their tension particularly sharp and almost suggested Linra had a personal issue like an eating disorder. Their powerful clash was regrettably short-lived due to Linra’s death, though her attempts to kill a child made it hard to mourn her loss.
Final Thoughts
The battle may have come to an end with Gehenna: Naked Aggression #4, but there’s another promised for the future. It’s a wonderfully explosive ending to this storyline, with a tease for the next chapter (and I, for one, look forward to it).
