Hashtag Comics 2015
Written by Martin Dunn
Co-Plotted, Illustrated and Lettered by Derrick Fish
Coloured by Challenging Studios
With each issue of this series that comes out i’m more and more a fan of it. Vampire brothers Jace and Dante now have Chelsea as a scribe to fix the things that the public isn’t supposed to know about and their society. Dante’s exploits as the series started drew the ire of Issac Bottwin and last issue he recruited the zombies to attack the brothers in Las Vegas’s hottest night club and that’s where we pick up this issue.
Got to hand it to Derrick here too because the interior artwork is freakin awesome! Bottwin is creepy as all get out and he just adds that touch of horror to this book that it really needs to balance out the whole thing that the brother’s bring. He also opens up this issue so he can set himself up to watch the action unfold. It’s a brilliant opening too I really like the jab at Twilight because well it needs to be done.
Inside the club Chelsea is trying to adjust to her new life talking to Jolene, the bartender as the boys argue and get ready to go out leaving them completely unprepared for what is about to happen. Martin has some serious writing chops here he’s giving us this great characterization and infusing all the problems of legitimate businessmen with being a part of the supernatural community. As the zombies or Zed’s are about to crash into the club the boys hear, sense and smell them and it doesn’t take long for the action to begin.
Huge fight scene too and it’s just beautifully rendered by Derrick and the studio coloured just as well too. I really am blown away by the attention to detail and the use of pages, panels and backgrounds throughout the fighting. Plus seeing zombie parts flying around after being struck by these supernaturally strong beings was the icing on the cake. What really impresses me the most is that throughout the fighting we see more great characterization that there’s more to Jolene than meets the eye and that while they may be zombies they aren’t stupid. Plus the boys get overconfident and while they all come out on top, thanks to Chelsea’s timely intervention, they aren’t as tough and unbeatable as they think they are.
This is a shining example of what you can do with the supernatural community that isn’t typical or predictable. It’s so well thought out and executed and the interiors are just beyond what you can expect that if something as fan friendly as True Blood can be successful on cable television than something like this can be just as entertaining if not more so.
By the end of this issue what really struck me was the bonding Chelsea is having with these characters and Jolene particularly. She’s gotten what she wanted a new life that isn’t anything like her old one and she’s adapting to it more quickly than I would have imagined and in some aspects seems to be enjoying immensely.
This is one of those examples of books you should be reading that aren’t known in the mainstream. We need to be looking for projects like this and promoting them and spreading the word that such great creators are doing such work outside the bigger named companies. I’m completely taken and enamored with this book and I think if you give it shot you will be to.