Red 5 Comics/Stonebot Comics 2019
By Salvador Sanz
Coloured by Gonzalo Duarte
Translation by Darlo Timarchi
Lettered by Altercomics Studio
Angela Della Morte works for Dr. Sibelius, the most brilliant mind of the century. Using a new technology, Sibelius Labs are capable of separate soul from body. Using this tech Angela's soul can get into other dead host and take control of their bodies in undercover missions. But as the souls travels the void to get into their new receptacles, they must elude a tenebrous life-form. This creature feeds with the substance of which the soul is made. It is the most dangerous predator in this new ecosystem, and its name is: Death.
I keep telling you people that the best books, story's, come from these companies you tend to overlook. Yes this European and yes it kicks the butt of anything that's created here in the states and no I am not biased. The very first page here is the opening and by god if this black and white rendering isn't the most amazing thing you've ever seen. I am amazed at how the page is set-up and how 6 panels can make such a huge impact. What we see being said in the opening is just as fantastical as can be, and well it's the entire premise for the story really.
The story & plot development with how we see the sequence of events unfold and how the reader learns information is done superbly well done. The character development we see is amazing as we meet Angela and see her go through what she does we begin to get a good feel for her personality and who she is. With the pacing we see how the twists & turns effect how the story moves forward and how it creates this wonderful ebb & flow to the book. Just the way this book reads here is phenomenal and it grabs you, keeps your attention and engages your mind in ways that go beyond the scope of what you think you know. This really takes you to the edge of what you think of and then to go further than you've been pushed outside of a classroom. Totally immersed in this book and loving every moment of it.
Good golly miss Molly the interiors here are astounding. The confidence in Salvador's linework comes through in this really strong way. You see and feel that he knows precisely what he's doing and it comes across so mindbogglingly good. To see the varying weights of the linework being utilised to create the surface of the moon and in the space suits, not to mention who Angela is there with it all has such power, grace and beauty to what we see. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show this astonishing eye for storytelling. The fact that backgrounds are as prolific as they are makes me so happy and how they expand the moments and bring that size and scope to the book is amazing to see. The colour work as well is something extraordinary as well as we see the shading and shadow work not to mention utilisation of light sources as the shine on surfaces.
This book has so many different layers to it and all of them work in concert with each other the create something much larger on the whole. There is no pigeon holing this into a genre because it has many elements of different genres at play here. What we get is this completely spectacular story that makes me want to see more, and the anticipation of making me wait sigh well that's a tad annoying but that's the medium. I keep saying to check out books from the smaller press folks and I think this is one that you must try, this is MUST READ material right here.