ComiXology Originals 2019
Written by Chip Zdarsky
Illustrated by Jason Loo
Coloured by Paris Alleyne
Lettered by Aditya Bidikar
With the demon bounty hunters closing in from all directions, Janice realises that forward is the only way to go. But whatever is in Suzanna's past, whatever danger Dumu says it would put her in, is driving Suzanna to Hell her only option?
The more I read this the more I am getting into it. I mean the whole idea that seems to be playing out before us is extremely interesting. While Dumu appears to be in a more human guise and his fellow demons who are trying to steal the soul away from him are more traditionally Chinese or Japanese in their visage makes for an interesting look I will say that what we see is only half the fun. While it is Suzanna's soul which appears to be on the line it is really Janice who appears to be the star of this tale.
The way that we see this story being told through the story & plot development and how we see the sequence of events unfold and the reader learns information is really well done. The character development is great to see and the way we see the characters begin to grow and evolve through the events that they encounter is exciting to see. With the pacing here, which by the way is superb, shows how the twists and turns that we witness help shape the ebb & flow of the book. The way that this is structured and how we see all the various characters in play here really does more than simply tell a story it engages the reader in ways they won't expect.
The idea of a highway to hell, pun intended, is intriguing and the rules about how to get onto it are somewhat explained. Somewhat because for everything we learn there are so many unanswered questions that aren't, not to mention new ones that arise. For a limited series it's really the pacing that is how we primarily learn things as that determines how much can be told without things feeling too rushed or too sparse. Chip is one today's hottest and brightest storytellers so it should as no surprise that the way this is being revealed to us is pretty near perfectly done.
Jason's work on the interiors here is pretty interesting. The way that Janice looks compared to the rest is somewhat more simple and I am not sure why. The linework we see is really nicely done and the way we see the attention to detail is well rendered. There doesn't really seem to be a lot varying weights utilised in the linework really but then somehow he seems to make it work. That we see backgrounds utilised as they are they do work to enhance the moments and bring a sense of size and scope to the book, though sometimes I don't understand why they are left out. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a nice decent eye for storytelling. The colour work we see here is wonderful. I like how we see things like the sky around the Midway highway. The way that we see the various hues and tones utilised to create shading and shadows is extremely well done.
There are times when I feel like this is a twisted level in Need for Speed or like Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift and honestly I am kind of thrilled by that prospect. There is an excitement and a different take on all the elements of these various genres that we see and identify here. Okay what I see and identify here. Regardless there is something new and different about this book and it continues to prove why ComiXology Originals is making the digital platform of reading comics something more and more people are doing. Don't get me wrong if I have a choice I'll always choose physical but this makes a very good, strong case for the digital platform.