Zenescope Entertainment 2020
Written by Hans Rodionoff & Adam F. Goldberg
Illustrated by Allan Otero
Coloured by Leonardo Paciarotti
Lettered by Carlos M. Mangual
What truly lies in the depths of space? Is there more life than we know? So far we are the only known intelligence in our galaxy, but what if there was another planet, inhabited by other lifeforms, hiding deep within our own solar system? What if it knows about us? Don’t miss this shocking truth here!
I love this series of one-shots. Each one is a complete story in and of itself and yet there’s always that door which can be opened for further opportunities. Each is as impressive as the last and quite honestly they infuse the science fiction and conspiracy theories with just the right amount of horror. Honestly I am uber impressed with the amount of storytelling that we see that captures the mind, imagination and creativity of the readers’. How we are engaged within the story is another example of how nicely structured this book is. With a nice healthy dose of what feels like the Twilight Zone infused within this proving the whole theory of interconnectedness in the universe.
I like the way that this story is being told. How we see the story & plot development through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is extremely well presented. The pacing almost feels like it’s a builder but in reality there are so many subtle but effective ways to see that as we constantly move forward in this story that the changes we see are intelligently rendered. The character development that we see is sensational and as we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances they face really help to showcase who they are and what they are going through. The pacing here is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the twists and turns along the way it is easy to see just how well everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow.
I have been touting the grown up version of Zenescope for a while now and it really is series such as these that showcase what I am referring to. There’s no need for barely clothed women, well men yes lol, and instead the quality and strength of the storytelling we see here is more than enough to keep us coming back for more.
The interiors here are really something to see. Allan does some beautiful work at such a consistent level and quality to it that sets him apart from the crowd. The way we see the varying weights and the various techniques here that shine a spotlight on the detail we see in the work is a joy to see. That we see backgrounds being utilised as they are, there could always be more, many more, it is really nice to see how this is able to bring depth perception, a sense of scale as well as the overall sense of size and scope of the story. The utilisation of page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a very talented eye for storytelling. The colour work that we see is really nicely rendered as well. How we see the hues and tones within the various colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows a really solid understanding of colour.
This is fantastic. I don’t know how long this series of one-shots will continue, this is the fifth in the series, but I do hope that it’s going to continue until there are no more Conspiracy stories to tell. Luckily we all know that should take quite some time. This is a really intelligently written book with some beautiful interiors and it really, really needs to be on your reading list.