Motor Crush #6 is that brief pause at the beginning of a race, when each racer is revving their engines and glaring at the competition. So much has happened for them to get to this point, and it’s almost time to gun that engine and ride as hard as they can -- but not quite. Motor Crush #6 (written by the core team of Brenden Fletcher, Cameron Stewart and Babs Tarr, with guest line art by Stewart) is that interregnum. That deep breath. That final moment before all hell breaks loose.

This issue takes a step back from the story arc of the first five issues and delves into Domino and Sully’s past. It’s been established that Dom was adopted as a baby, but where did she come from? How did she start taking Crush? How can she take Crush? Not all of these questions get answered, and we actually get to learn far more about Sully than we do about Dom: who he was before he became Dom’s father, what he gained when she entered his life, and what he lost.

Back then, Nova Honda wasn’t a WGP destination; the Coliseum wasn’t built yet. Crush didn’t exist, except in the vials Sully found with baby Domino. Sully and Dom are happy, he’s got his shop and she’s a happy kid, super-excited about everything and just dreaming of the day her father will allow her to race.

But we also get to see what Dom’s life is like when she goes too long without Crush. Stewart and Tarr’s art here is beautiful but horrifying to look at. It’s clear that Sully is terrified too, the panel of him looking at his daughter writhing in pain is one of the few in which his eyes are actually open, instead of just those thick dark eyebrows on a smiling face.

I don’t want to spoil too much because you need to read this issue (and every other issue) of Motor Crush, but let’s just say you’ll learn about how Crush came to take over the streets of Nova Honda, how Sully lost his leg, and why the stakes are so high for the Swift family.

Stewart takes over line art for this flashback issue and it totally works. The design and color work are as gorgeous as the previous five issues, but the lines are just different enough that everything feels both familiar and unfamiliar. This was a different time, a friendlier time before everything went to hell.

This issue has four variant covers by Babs Tarr, Kris Anka, Jake Wyatt and Kevin Wada. They’re all stunning, but Tarr’s cover with a smiling Sully and tween Dom tugs at your heart strings before the issue itself stomps on your heart and makes you cry. Motor Crush #6 continues the intensity of the series with the start of a new arc that adds depth to everything that came before.