Aftershock Comics 2016
Created & Written by Joe Pruett
Created & Illustrated by Szymon Kudranski
Coloured by Guy Major
Lettered by Marshall Dillon
As the BEK army continues to grow, Meredith comes face-to-face with a childhood nightmare that causes her to question her entire past, while Jones finds out that the BEK do not make ideal threats.
I have to say this is the kind of issue that impresses me a great deal. Not only does the story itself keep advancing along nicely but there’s a lot of work here where we don’t have dialogue or narration it’s all visual. What Joe and Szymon are able to do with that is utterly fantastic as we are treated to a visual thrill ride.
Randy was warned and his ex Jennifer was targeted if he didn’t back down. This sent the cop who likes to drink on a sobering experience. I have to say what happens with that this issue is the kind of stuff that gives you nightmares. I mean these are kids and they are relentless and pure evil. What they have in mind and how they back their threats making sure we know they aren’t idle threats is incredibly well done. Joe has tapped into that primal fear of evil children here and he keeps amping that up to new levels where simply giving the heebie jeebies isn’t enough.
Also that these Black Eyed Kids aren’t everywhere, haven’t attacked everyone and are able to set up situations where those who know are being exposed for something they aren’t, like cold blooded child killers, just keeps adding the tension and the frustration of the characters and the reader alike.
Szymon’s ability to use page layouts, angles, perspective and the use of the night with shadows and varied backgrounds do so much to keep the mood, tone and feel of this story going so strong. The attention to detail here is amazing to see the way the eyes are so expressive and how much the faces can show expression really hit home.
This is one of those series that needs to be experienced. I can’t go into details about it without giving a lot away and ruining it. It’s just so well written, executed from concept to what we get on the page. The consistent level of how strong, creepy and downright disturbing this can be both in visuals and how the story progresses with the constant revelations of what they are capable of is astonishing.
The only thing better than reading this as single issues is to read them all at once and then try not to hear the house settling without jumping to that conclusion someone is there with you.