Behemoth Comics 2020
On Sale Oct. 14th 2020
Created & Written by Gabriel Arrais
Illustrated by Abel
Translation by Pietro Baldisseri
Introducing Douglas, a teenager who gains the form and memories of any deceased person by touching any of their mortal remains. But everything has its price… After gaining this gift; he can only feel pleasure or emotion by being someone else, not to mention he’s forever stuck in his 16 year old body, unable to grow old.
Now Behemoth is one of my new favourite publishing houses. This book is one that is definitely for adults, well I should say for mature readers’. At first when i was reading this I wasn’t totally sure what was going on but I will say I was fascinated nonetheless. After finishing this issue my mind was in overdrive, I was so wrapped up in what I had read and the revelations that were given to us that I had to go back and re-read this two more times before attempting to write the review. There are things that are shown that even in hindsight or retrospect you still wouldn’t have a clue that anything wasn’t what it seemed until proven otherwise. I remain completely and utterly impressed by the level and quality of the storytelling here.
The way this is being told is beyond bloody brilliant! The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is done in a way that will leave you breathless. You will not see what’s coming, point blank period and if you believe otherwise well I want to hear the truth after you read this. The character development is absolutely phenomenal! Through conversations and how they act and react to the situations and circumstances they find themselves in give us only insight into their personalities but it doesn’t reveal them. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story itself it’s easy to see how everything works together to create the books ebb & flow.
It is hard to believe that I was asked if I’d enjoy this, they weren’t sure, because I am a lover of the medium and all that it entails. With how this is structured and all the many layers that are revealing themselves this is one of the more intelligent, thought provoking and it will engage your mind on so many levels as it’s secrets begin to be revealed to you.
The interiors here leave feeling gobsmacked! I have come to appreciate the black & white medium more and more over the years and that it is one that is unforgiving. Every little mistake will show but what we see here doesn’t show flaws it shows such an amazingly talented illustrator. The linework is exceptional and how we see the varying weights being utilised to bring out the detail we see in the work is stunning. That we see backgrounds being utilised so well throughout really fleshes out the moments and brings us such great depth perception a sense of scale and that overall sense of size and scope to the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show such a masterful eye for storytelling. The way we see the grey’s utilised and the different techniques in laying them down really is rather exceptionally well rendered.
You need to make sure this is going to be ordered for you. The writing is so damn strong and how we see this play will take you places you could never ever be prepared to go. This will test the limits of your sanity as you try to justify what you see and learn and then just when you think you have a handle on this, well you turn the page and have to start all over again. You will NOT find a better book than this one right here point blank period, mark my words this is the next big thing.