Darby Pop Publishing 2017
Written & Lettered by Luis Roldan Torquemada
Illustrated by Mariano Eliceche
Coloured by Angel Lidon
I think this is freaking amazing! The premise behind this story seems to be that history has been rewritten and there are agents out there whose sole job it is is to eliminate those people who remember it. So we’ve got folks remembering things that #NeverHappened which includes songs, movies, television shows and mondo news events. Why and what kind of danger they pose to society is completely unknown all we know is that they get eliminated regardless of age, gender etcetera.
You’d think it sounds kind of hokey at first because the reality is that my description doesn’t necessarily convey everything that you experience reading the story. This is going to be released as a graphic novel in August if you don’t want to read them individually and I highly recommend that you go order it. Why because it has the all the right notes and tones between horror, mystery and science fiction that make it a wild thrill ride.
At times the characterisation is oblique and that comes across purposefully so and at other times you know everything about someone through their dialogue and actions. For instance the agents are creepy and ambiguous and the by contrast what i’m doing to say will be a main character or antagonist to them, Marc Royles, is extremely well defined and it’s the way we see this contrast that really is impressive. Luis does this amazing job with how and when he decides to do his thing.
The way this is structured is great the ebb and flow of the story is enjoyable. There’s plenty revealed while simultaneously we are left wondering what the hell is going on. I mean I want to know more about these agents, it’s just something I want as what we see just isn’t enough. It’s got that hook, leaving desire implanted in the reader so that they want, no crave more about what’s going on here.
The utilisation of page layouts and how angles, perspective and even backgrounds come into play are spectacularly done. I like that nudity isn’t shied away from here. The way that bodies are shown with proportions are wonderful to see, I like the average ordinary body types and that this brings that. Would I like to see more backgrounds in play but of course because those shaded colours behind heads do a disservice but really that’s my take as it doesn’t detract from enjoying this story at all. Also it should be noted that there times the colouring here is outstanding, the couch in the old lady’s place as well as the flower work in her dress not to mention that wallpaper all of them stand out beautifully.
Well they’ve gone and made sure the characters are interesting, the premise solid and intriguing and have delivered a strong well executed first issue. I want more and with so many different companies offering so many different things that this one has what it takes to stand out well that’s something special.