Aftershock Comics 2017
Created & Written by Justin Jordan
Created & Illustrated by Eleonora Carlini
Coloured by Silvia Tidei
Lettered by Marshall Dillon
Coyote Bones leads Anna deep into the Backways in her search for Sylvia. Unfortunately, Coyote neglected to mention her varied and numerous enemies, or the forces moving to stop Anna in her quest!
So I will say this much the fact that we haven’t seen Sylvia since her abduction is spectacularly well done. I kind of like that she is the catalyst for Anna being in the Backways too. This is Anna’s story as such it’s her journey and while Sylvia may or may not be in trouble I don’t want to know if or until she finds her. It is almost an itch that you can’t scratch or that moment into a room and forget why that’s kind of how Sylvia feels to me. This may be the first time I’ve ever said that too so kudos to Justin.
The way the book is structured is fantastic and I like ebb & flow of the story here. From the opening which catches your attention in both a dark way and one that well lets be honest it makes you laugh. After all Wendy with her crows isn’t a conversationalist after all and the person she visits well he is more than capable of some intelligent conversation. I think the way Justin does their dialogue and interaction here is both fun and foreboding.
Speaking of fun Coyote is both entertaining in her ramblings not letting Anna speak while not really saying much and being frustrating. Though she does tell us about the four kinds of magic people have to choose from or is chosen for them. Who they are and what they do as the pair walk through marketplace which is great because we learn more about Coyote. This leads to more questions that personally I do want to see answered. We all have the feeling that Coyote is distracting Anna from her quest but then that begs the question of why and what does she think she’s going to get for delivering her to someone else? There has to be some grand scheme that Coyote is trying to pull off here, if not then Justin has me running in circles.
I am very much enjoying the interiors here. Seeing the use of magic is fantastic and then to see the colours in the magic being so vibrant against the background and still creating a light source yeah this is great. The use of page layouts so that we can see the angles and perspective show a very strong eye for storytelling. Then there’s backgrounds oh yes and thank you I love that we see them so that it enhances the story by showing us this world and giving us that chance to also become comfortable with this new dimension they are in. Before I forget to mention there’s some beautiful examples of creativity and imagination on display here as well.
Justin is so good when it comes to pacing and doling out information to us readers. Everything in this issue does not feel rushed or overcrowded not even glossed over it really has such flow to it that is a pure joy to see. Almost as much as seeing Anna come into her own in a way that’s much too dangerous for her own good. I mean she isn’t familiar with this place and how it runs or who’s in charge where so losing your temper and unleashing your power which is just discovered and how that happened well it’s creepy, interesting and leaves me uncomfortable.
Those last three things those are what Freeform and SyFy try to bring with their original programming and they don’t do as well as we see here.