The Recap Page: What You Need To Know Heading Into ‘Clean Room’ #7

With so many great comics series to read, it can be difficult remembering what happened in a previous issue as we head into the current one. The Recap Page is here to help readers remember what they need to know as a new issue looms.

This week, Clean Room #7 by writer Gail Simone and Jon Davis-Hunt delves into the backstory of its pseudo-antagonist, Astrid Mueller --- a New Age self-help guru and the leader of a cult that might save the world, destroy it, or do both at the same time.

The Story So Far: A few months ago, Chloe Pierce’s husband committed suicide, not long after becoming obsessed with the self-help book “An Honest World” by Astrid Mueller. After a brush with suicide herself, Chloe decides to use her skills as an investigative journalist to find Astrid Mueller and get some answers about her organization, her philosophy, and what exactly the Clean Room is.

We find out quickly that Chloe Pierce, her husband Phillip, Astrid Mueller and those who’ve gone into the Clean Room all have something in common: they see things.

“You mean; they see things that aren’t there?” Nope. Just: they see things.

What Happened Last Issue? Chloe saw things.

One of the things she saw seemed to be possessing one of her affable neighbors, driving him around like a teenager with a learner’s permit, and the other thing she saw was The Surgeon, who was extremely folksy and kind right up until he survived being stabbed twice through the skull. This made the Surgeon a little upset.

Chloe was saved by a phone called from Astrid, who informed the Surgeon that she had a gun the size of a battleship aimed at the Surgeon’s home, and told it to back off. Reluctantly, it did.

Shortly thereafter, Chloe met with Astrid, freshly returned from having problems of her own with regards to a possession of one of her underlings, and the two had what passes for a bonding moment. Of course, just because Astrid is friendly with Chloe doesn’t mean she’s Chloe’s friend…

What's Next? Back in issue #1, we caught a glimpse of Astrid’s childhood, when shortly before being run over by a truck --- twice --- she started seeing monsters and other things that weren’t there. Since then, Astrid has gone from a child to an adult Gothic literary author and then to the leader of a cult, and today is as serious as a phone call from the doctor and as mysterious as ever. By delving into the period in between her childhood and now, Clean Room #7 promises to fill in some of the blanks.

Whether they’ll be something we want to know, well: this is a horror comic, in the grand Vertigo tradition of monsters creeping around your peripheral vision, of secret conspiracies and uncertain villainy. I may not want to know --- but I can’t wait to find out.

Clean Room #7 is available online and at finer comic book stores today, April 20 2016.