Apogee Comics 2019
Created & Plots by Alfred Paige
Written by Alex De-Gruchy
Pencilled by William Allen Reyes
Inked by Jesse Hansen
Coloured by Splash Colors/Yuan Cakra
After the events of the last issue the C.H.E.S.S. team regroups and take that offensive. Footpath and infrared attempts to investigate Nakadais Headquarters. But the mission takes a downfall when they bump straight into the Nakadais hit squad.
I do like the concept of this book and if I were at a convention and met Alfred and he was selling this I would definitely be taking it home with me. Why that's the real question to ask, why would I pick this up? The interiors need work and so does the writing but we'll break that down later. No I like this and it has this potential about it that needs to be tapped into. I firmly believe that with each issue we'll see these creators become better, stronger in what they do and for me that's exciting. I understand we live in an instant gratification society but life's not that easy nor should it be, everyone has to start somewhere and this is where they start.
Alex might have some things to learn but he's on the right track here with the way he structures this. It is solidly done and it is filled with layers so that we can see these different angles and points of view about what is happening and what's to come. They could transition better so that's a place to work on the writing as they just happen and the lead-in is weak or non-existent. While I applaud the dialogue and banter which actually does show off some really strong characterisation, there is a bit too much going on at once. The team is pretty large and to have them all talking over each other makes it a little muddy. So breaking up the team so that smaller groups can have an easier time with the dialogue is something to keep in mind.
Now the fight scene is great since we don't see much banter but we do see a lot of powers and gadgets in use and this is as good as written characterisation can ever be. I am beginning to question the team and how long they've been together because of what we see after the events of this issue. Cracks in a team is not good, ruffling feathers among teammates is okay but this goes beyond that and I'm not a fan of that.
The interiors have their moments and some of them are stellar and others are zoinks Scooby. So I am hoping that with regular sequential work we'll see how the work becomes more consistent. The way we see the composition inside the panels shows the basic understanding how to block the visual storytelling to create a nice aesthetic. The angles and perspective that we see here does show a nice eye for storytelling. There are times when the attention to detail is utterly fabulous and around page 23 it really does make this huge impact and you can see how things are going to be. This is where we see the understanding of backgrounds as well and I love this. The colour work is really nice to see as well. I like how light sources are utilised in creating shading and shadows, the variations in hues and tones to create highlights and lowlights are well executed.
We need to see smaller teams going out in the field together. This keeps them from stumbling over one another and allows us a better opportunity to get to know them. I want to see how this creative team grows and evolves into a real team. The hope and promise of what can be is here, you can see in the work what they are capable of becoming, of doing. This is half the fun of the industry as we get a chance to see a franchise and it's creators not to mention a company grow and flourish before our very eyes.