Aftershock Comics 2017
Created & Written by Adam Glass
Illustrated by Dennis Calero
Coloured by Adriano Augusto
Lettered by Corey Breen
After a death-defying fall, Jack presses Doctor Gordon on the true nature of his existence. But after WESTIN INCORPORATED seizes back what they identify as their property, Jack and his family prepare for the fight of their lives to maintain their freedom and preserve their humanity.
Well I really liked the direction that Adam took this last issue. So I was looking forward to seeing where he could go next. After all there was a lot of information thrown at us and I was more than a little curious where he was going to take it from there. I mean there’s a lot of time still left in this so leave it to Adam to bring us to the brink, leave us hanging and then swerve us in a direction that we should’ve seen coming.
So what is life? What does being alive mean and how do you know when you’ve crossed the line from a creation for property to creation of life? That’s something that Adam is taking a look at here. It isn’t something scientists tend to ask themselves because usually we’re saying just because you could doesn’t mean you should. Then there’s the whole thing about how are they such life like model decoys for human beings? Where did the programming and the know how to create such sophisticated androids. Not just androids either but androids who have no idea they were anything other than a normal American family!
I like that this falls into the realm of what we see in Rough Riders but diverges so vastly at the same time. Adam’s creativity and imagination work so well with his ability to tell a story in ways that engage the reader so thoroughly. I think the fact that what we see can be seen as expected or almost predictable and yet simultaneously it has those moments to it that sest it apart from what you may know.
Denis is such a great artist and illustrator. The way he can mix, blend and create the hybridization of man and machine is very well done. Yes part of it seems very Six Million Dollar Man while others come across original and new. That he can bring us the emotions Jack feels as he’s talking to the Doctor through facial expressions and body language is delightful to see. The use of page layouts utilising angles and perspective do nice things to tell the story. There’s very little use of backgrounds but the unique style of the art makes up for that.
I’m more intrigued by this issue than I was the first one and that is a sign of excellent writing. Aftershock scored a major coup in letting Adam unleash his mind and creative process with these books. It’s nice to once again look forward to books to come out and have the excitement I used to feel in my youth.