Aftershock Comics 2021
Written by Ron Marz
Illustrated by Marco Castiello
Coloured by Juanchoi
Lettered by Rus Wooton
Having fled from their native Russia with little more than their lives, the Neumann's find themselves marooned in Philadelphia, housed in luxurious surroundings but virtual prisoners of the U.S. government. As the CIA and FBI bicker over which agency will utilise them as intelligence assets, the unwitting couple is stalked by a Russian agent seeking revenge.
This is a very interesting book, I know it’s based on a true story and that doing something of a bio piece can be difficult to do. Ron however, makes it feel effortlessly done as he works in what we need to know in a smart, intelligent manner. After mining them for legitimate information they could use they’ve finally put them up someplace nice. Though I really appreciate how Alex sees their predicament and how he manages to articulate this. While I cannot empathise with what they are going through I can sympathise with their plight of feeling overwhelmed and like strangers in a strange land. The way these people come across and how they are presented it really makes it easy to like them and want to see them succeed more than being in this inter-agency tug-o-war that we see happening to them.
I’m loving the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter does this amazing job with the ever evolving personalities. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing more of the story and how they are experiencing things are immaculately handled.
I’m extremely impressed with the way that we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen. I also like the way we see these layers within the story opening up new avenues to be explored. Whether or not they will be or doesn’t matter because they all add this great depth, dimension and complexity to the story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward are impeccably handled.
The interiors are bloody mindbogglingly brilliant to see. The linework is exquisite and how the varying weights and techniques are being utilised to create this level & quality in the detail within the work that we see is utterly bloody amazing. How we see the backgrounds being utilised throughout to enhance and expand the moments and how they work within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story are marvellously rendered. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show this masterful eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work show such an incredible eye for how colour works. The colour blocking and gradation that we see show such a range in how it is applied as well.
This is one of the most gorgeous books on stands right now. The interiors here are bloody mindbogglingly brilliant and then the writing is equally as brilliant in how the book is rendered. I’m so in awe of the talent on display here as they make it all look so easy. Also I’m not really trusting anyone these two have to deal with and no matter the amount of valuable information they’ve provided I still feel as if the agents from both agencies have some up their sleeves that isn’t so nice. I’m so invested, engaged and enrapt in this series it’s almost scary.