ROK Comics/Antarctic Press 2019
Written by Matthew Spradlin
Illustrated by William Allan Reyes
Coloured by Archie Van Buren
A true life horror story rooted at the end of World War II. Two Japanese soldiers struggle to make it through a deadly island swamp as the dark sins of their less honourable Japanese soldier comrades come back to extract their bloody revenge.
Sometimes the horrific stories don’t come from one’s imagination it comes from the lengths one will go to under extreme circumstances. Unfortunately the horrors committed during wartime are some of the most unsettling realities that existed and the atrocities well they can make one cringe, wide-eyed and full wonder while being upset and angry yet unable to look away. What Matthew does here is bring all that and more to this issue and if the rest of the story continues on with this same intensity to it than you best prepare yourself now and make sure you don’t read it before bed.
The was that this story is structured is amazingly good. In many if not nearly all War Books centre on one side of the forces in play so that Matthew is spending time introducing us to characters from both sides who are to play an essential role in the book is a refreshing thing. Also when you read this you begin to see what we think we know of the reality of the situation. That is Matthew shows us unbiased characterisation and there isn’t a true good guy/bad guy thing in this, as in war both sides are fighting for what they believe in and therefore the truth is in the eyes of whomever is in focus. I am loving this because it isn’t something we see and that this is approximates the true reality is even more impressive.
So while Matthew is fleshing out the characters he’s introducing to us he also very much hints at what it is that might lay in the swamp. Now I am no mind-reader but I do see how what we witness, which is beyond disturbing, however I would not be surprised if this is the event that leads to what is being experienced now. There are some who get exactly what they deserve in life and it may take time for that cosmic karma to come back around but when it does, it does with a vengeance unknown the depths of man’s mind. That is saying something too because plenty of us have overactive imaginations.
I am so loving the interior artwork here. William has this amazing way of utilising the varying weights in the linework in such a stellar way to create this attention to detail. That attention to detail is eye catching in some really wonderful ways and this is definitely a mature readers read as the subject matter we see which come to life visually with such care and class. The overall tone and feel of what we see here is beyond what I was expecting to see. The colour work here from Archie just compliments and completes things in some pretty powerful ways. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows off a magnificent eye for storytelling. The way we see backgrounds utilised is superb and helps to expand the size and scope of where they are.
There are so many horror stories that are attributed to wartime activities. When the Japanese are concerned we know that they didn’t surrender, that word for all intents and purposes was struck from their language. To see the way the Chinese are treated at their hands is something else entirely that seems so far from what we think of their culture and their people. I love this, this is just one of those things come along unexpectedly and gets you excited because of the level and quality of the storytelling within these pages.