Aftershock Comics 2016
Written by Joe Pruett
Illustrated by Szymon Kudranski
Coloured by Guy Major
Lettered by Marshall Dillon
It’s dark. You’re alone. Then there’s a knock. You open the door to nd two seemingly normal kids. They ask to come in, to borrow your phone to call for a ride. You nd yourself overcome with an intense fear that you can’t explain. And then you notice their eyes...black...SOLID black. You want to run, but now they’re inside. It’s too late. They have you.
There really isn’t much scarier when it comes to horror than when it involves kids in the role of frightening folks. While I don’t see it listed as such i’m gonna go with this a title for mature audiences on subject matter alone. Also I wouldn’t recommend you reading this at night either it’s terribly creepy and Joe goes there with the story making this worthy of any late night horror thriller.
I like the tension that we feel when this issue opens. If you’ve ever been around a sleepwalker before you know it can creep you out when you see them unexpectedly in your room or area. My dad used to tell I would sleepwalk as a child so I can relate. Still when they say things out loud and have no idea they are doing it and you hear them and it’s just “They’re Coming” nothing bodes well. This set the stage for me for what this is going to be like. I’m extremely happy too because Joe really seems to be digging deep in the things that chill the psyche.
From there we see a series of events unfold that kind of seem random. Well we know in situations like this nothing is ever random and you get the impression that these Black Eyed Kids aren’t really working under their own power. Something is controlling them, hopefully something otherworldly and supernatural in nature. Part of the creep factor here is that we don’t know what’s happening with these kids, why they were chosen and what makes their eyes black. Sometimes the unknown is what we fear the most because it allows our minds to really go to places we’d rather it didn’t. A mind racing to explain with some of the scariest and worst case scenarios well those are the ones that make us afraid to sleep.
Szymon and Guy deliver some work on the interiors that suits this story to a T. Szymon’s eye for how the story should be laid out page by page, panel by panel really does heighten the experience. He’s great at giving you the emotion not only from the characters but from the situations as well. When the handsome Jim gets in his car yeah you are definitely creeped out and that’s all visual.
Also I’m old school, Hitchcock old school so by not seeing the violence but the after effects is much more effective to me than anything can be presented. Gunshots are one thing but personal attacks it’s creepier not to see or the sound of snap even can be more chilling when the reader has to imagine what’s happening on their own.
Creepy and unnerving this strongly written and extremely visual series should be read in the daylight!