Zenescope Entertainment 2018
Written by Hans Rodionoff
Illustrated by J.G. Miranda
Coloured by Leonardo Paciarotti
Lettered by Taylor Esposito of Ghost Glyph Studios
Is there someone out there who shares your face? Have those in power been swapped out to help shepherd the masses? Does our Government replace those who don’t cooperate with their agenda? Are you next?
Alright so I really appreciate that while this is primarily a one and done type of story there is a theme and characters that keep the series tied together so nicely. This issue starts off with us meeting the leading actor in the United States and after a screening of his latest film things start to kick off, just not in a way that anyone expects. I have to say I love this series so far, of course we’re only two issues in but regardless the way that this has been structured and the overall ebb & flow of the book itself is sensationally well done.
I am always impressed when someone can take a seemingly innocuous story and make it as creepy as all get out. I mean horror is one thing but the art of subtlety and building the tension and really getting the reader to feel uneasy that’s a lost art. Considering Han’s resume I shouldn’t be shocked that he understands how to do that and yet I still can’t be any more grateful that he can. This issue has so many aspects to it that hit you in different ways as you await what you think is coming and with every turn of the page where that doesn’t happen feels like the anticipation is too much. It really is a mixture of Carly and Frankfurter yes antici……..pation is making me wait and the tension is palpable.
I am also really enjoying the characterisation this issue. Ari, Liam and even Taylor and Drew it seems everyone we meet here is fleshed out extremely well through their actions and their dialogue. While I brought them up Taylor and Drew went to High School with Bill who starred in last issue as the guy who got sucked into things and killed the people from the company that fired him. They are what is going to be that theme which permeates the story and ties everything together and the road they’ll undertake is going to be fraught with danger and I cannot wait to see that begin to happen.
The interior artwork here is really nice as well. I am really digging the way that linework is used in such strong sublte lines to create this attention to detail that makes faces and facial expressions really stand out. Leonardo’s colour work is really great stuff here and the highlights, shadows and the gradation resulting from all that is expertly done. The work here is truly exquisite. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows off a stellar eye for storytelling. I am also pretty impressed with the utilisation of backgrounds, of course I’d like to see more, as they expand moments and give us a bit of size and scope to the story.
The overall story here is sensationally well done and it really does make you think and see things just a tad differently. While the world doesn’t run on conspiracy theories, or does it and if it were we’d never know about it, the way this weaves it’s way in and out of a myriad of different scenarios where a shadowy organisation has it’s hands in so many pots in order to rule the world from shadows is incredibly well done. There is a lot going on here and each issue has a different focus with one single strand tying them altogether is a great thing to see.
This is beautifully written and illustrated and continues to demonstrate the fact that Zenescope is embracing the future of strong mature storytelling.