Scout Comics 2019
Written by Sheldon Allen
Illustrated by Armin Ozdic
Lettered by Matt Bowers
Jesus had The Apostles, and The Christ has The Twelve - a dedicated collection of true believers whose sordid and sinister pasts Lucas learns about from a trusted source. Meanwhile, Sujad exacts revenge on a familiar face, and a momentary lapse in judgment causes Larry to reconsider a previous offer.
Well the opening here is something that I wasn't quite expecting to see unfold in this manner. I like that of course because it means that Sheldon is managing to surprise me right off the bat. If he can do that here then he an do it at any point in the story and that anticipation is a wonderful thing. So the opening does have that perfect quality of grabbing your attention and engaging the reader so that we want to see more. Now I don't know Sheldon or anything about him but to see how he has formed The Twelve automatically earns mad respect from me. The personality types we see is very much something that many would agree with when it comes those in the Religious community telling others how to live their lives.
I am enjoying the way that this is being structured. The pacing carries the story & plot development and the character development while weaving through each other in this marvellous ebb & flow from beginning to end. Seriously the way this moves is fantastic and it feels like it goes quickly but it doesn't it's just a phantom feeling because you are so involved in what's happening here that you don't notice the passage of time. So while the premise we kind of saw on Preacher (AMC) this is a totally spin on the idea and yet it still feels original and it makes me wonder if these Jesus types are the next new thing to be seeing?
Aside from being at the beginning of a trend I am totally impressed with the characterisation here. So the kid that Lucas is with him the opening is someone I hope we are going to see more of. He is intriguing and with computer skills that always come in handy make him an invaluable asset. Plus the way he describes folks shows his personality beautifully.
The linework that we see within these pages is really good. It shows off Armin's strong and steady hand and how the varying weights are utilised to bring out some good attention to detail within the characters is nicely done. The one thing I will say is that I wish we would see more backgrounds being utilised to expand the moments and bring a size and scope to the book. They really feel non-existent even when they are there. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows off a decent eye for storytelling. Also that the sex scene is as tasteful as it is is quite the accomplishment. The colour work is nice. Sometimes the colour in the backgrounds is much too close to flesh tones but seeing the flesh tones and the highlights and shading in them is subtle and makes a very good strong impact. How we see light sources which create the shading and shadows so nice to see is well done.
This is a crazy ass story and I like it that way. We are just getting to know the characters who are the players in this drama and what they represent in it. This isn't quite a slow burner but it's close and this kind of set-up to the story is one I highly appreciate. There is no rushing to get to a certain point in the story and instead it is playing out in a way that feels like it would in real life. I keep telling you all that Scout has some amazing books and this is another great example of that, so order them from your shop and see why this little company garners so much great reviews from folks like me.