Dynamite Entertainment 2015
Written by Chuck Dixon
from an original story by Dean Koontz
Illustrated by Andres Ponce
Coloured by Mohan
Lettered by Bill Tortolini
Well Victor’s machine went and worked last issue and Michael and Carson barely got out that alive though they might feel a little less confident this issue as we open up with well zombies. Victor created and army of zombies, anyone in the water that got zapped. It’s kind of fun really I mean Michael is not exactly a hardened man by any stretch of the imagination and throughout the opening when he and Carson try to stay alive and crack horrible one-liners well it’s perfect characterization.
Cheesy one-liners might seem a little out of place but when faced with the unexpected would you rather try to humour yourself with funnies or just plain old freak out and lose your cool? I’d go for the funnies at least it shows you are attempting to keep your cool. It’s a perfectly acceptable choice and speaking of what is said well I applaud those choices!
There’s an ebb and flow the story that I really like too. I mean yeah last issue was kind of dramatic and this is mostly aftermath and set-up for what’s next but with the characterization and the actions taken we get a better sense of who they are as people and how they can put the pieces of the puzzle together and follow the clues. Sure there’s humour and a bit well zombie chopping but mostly it’s all about the story here.
In order to get the bigger picture we need to know more about the players in this little drama. I love that Victor so confident after his greatest creation is realised only to discover that well they aren’t following him but his machine. The arrogance and confidence he has to see it shattered some and his spoiled brat style response was brilliantly done. You’ve really got to showcase something to dislike about him so that we want to see him fail and the others succeed and this little tantrum does that nicely.
Ah Erika and Karloff leave the house with a mystery man in the background who follows them. I have to say that she goes to bookstore is kind of wonderful. She wasn’t allowed to read, her Victor wanted well ya get it she’s the fifth version after all, so by going there and demonstrating that newfound independence and desire for what she wants well it makes less a creation and more a being.
I like the way this is being told you don’t get a repetitive feeling from one issue to the next there’s a great story, strong characterization, fantastic dialogue and a look at how they fit into the bigger picture.
Then there’s Andres and Mohan who do some very nice work on the interiors. Could the zombies be scarier well yeah but that’s okay this isn’t a book meant to scare you it’s meant to be creepy. Though the creepiest thing really is Karloff in all this but hey that’s okay too Dynamite isn’t known for their horror so it’s quite pleasant to see this interpretation. I like the attention to detail throughout the book, the page and panel layouts are done so the story flows nicely and it has a nice overall feel to it.
This story could do for Koontz and Frankenstein what Butcher has with Dresden and that’s something I am incredibly happy to see!