Titan Comics 2017
Story Created & Written by Andi Ewington
Illustrated by Simon Coleby
Coloured by Len O’Grady
Lettered by Jim Campbell
The influences here go so far beyond the game it’s from. With post apocalyptic stories about cars, guns, races and lives hanging in the balance it’s all about what’s really going to set this apart. What Andi brings to this is really some strong and unexpected characters and characterisation. From the get go through the end of this issue it’s all about expect the unexpected and there’s nothing more thrilling than that right now.
The grittiness that we get from this story is amazing to witness. It’s low down and dirty full actions and reactions that give off that sense of danger which pumps that adrenaline through your veins. It’s the mixture of that fight for survival that we see here which then mixes with the characterisation and what Andi puts these characters through that you just can’t look away from.
There are few artists like Simon working today. I don’t think there’s anything on the planet the man couldn’t tackle and make look spectacular. I mean really this the American West in a post apocalyptic world and that backdrop looks like it’s stepped out of some masterpiece hanging on the wall. It’s so sweeping and all encompassing that you feel the dry heat in the back of your throat and the dust in your eyes. His eye for storytelling using page layouts with their angles and perspective are masterfully done.
Rosa picked up her stray and the two encountered those bandits. This not only introduces us the big bad but also gives us an opportunity to see and meet other characters that inhabit this new world. We know Rosa hasn’t been all alone, she’s got to have had someone around to help out here and there right? Well not necessarily because if you think about it she was race car driver like her father and that would let someone assume she knows cars. Though we all know what they say about assuming?
Andi is taking us on this journey that he’s literally created from thin air using nothing more than a guideline from a gaming book. This shows off the creativity and imagination not to mention the sheer skill the man has in being able to bring us into a world so fully. The more we learn the more we want to know it has such impeccable pacing to it that the issue feels so much larger than it is.
Titan has given Andi this opportunity to shine and he’s taken it and ran off with it, taking our hearts and appreciation with him. This is why the world needs more exposure to creators outside the U.S. market.