Excommunicated #4 — Josephine Ascends as Tiago Palma’s Art Turns Holy

Josephine steps into her heavenly power, but the wriggling serpent Lotan is waiting. Tiago Palma’s art makes this divine upgrade feel dangerous, and it’s the exact kind of supernatural escalation that makes Vault’s latest must-read.

There’s a specific kind of tension that comes when a character stops fighting back and starts answering to something higher. In Excommunicated, that shift isn’t just narrative—it’s visual. Tiago Palma’s artwork has a luminous quality that makes the supernatural feel physical, and in this issue, that glow is directed squarely at Josephine.

The premise is setting up for a direct confrontation with the Bishop, but the real threat feels closer to home. The forces of darkness aren’t just waiting; they’re prepared. With Edimmu in the mix and a wriggling serpent named Lotan slithering into the picture, the stakes have moved past simple survival into something far more ancient and hungry.

What makes this a compelling pickup right now is the creative synergy. Jeremy Robinson’s pacing ensures the lore doesn’t bog down the action, while Palma renders the ‘heavenly’ aspects with enough grit that they never feel saccharine. When Josephine merges with saint-like power, it doesn’t feel like a cheat code—it feels like a burden she’s barely holding together.

If you’re tracking the bigger picture, this is the moment the book stops being about hiding and starts being about war. The variant covers are already drawing attention for their religious iconography, so keep an eye out if that aesthetic speaks to you.

This is one of those issues where the art does half the storytelling, and Palma is pulling heavy weight. It’s a great time to jump in or keep going—the momentum is carrying the whole shelf.