Vault Comics 2019
Created & Written by Eliot Rahal
Illustrated by John Bivens
Coloured by Jerrie & Monahan
Lettered by Taylor Esposito
Irving Parker is dead and no one knows it. Turns out... the moments right before the apocalypse are completely mundane. The world breathes like it always has—self-obsessed and assured of its own continuation. When, in reality, the creature from King Lake continues to secrete brain-slugs into the sewer system of Whisper. And the vomited-up skeleton of a little girl is busy trapping an unsuspecting (and washed up) television host. It’s all about to fall down.
What a fun little book this is. I mean Berwyn is like a version of those late night creature feature shows, Svengoolie only lamer, and he gives this that 1950's horror film vibe to the book. Which by the way lends itself perfectly to what we're seeing. I mean the blob has come from outer space on a comet that crashed to earth and the unsuspecting citizens are being sucked out of their skins. Now I have no idea whether or not he's just leaking, birthing or having a movement from eating but apparently getting then into the water seems to have a very interesting affect.
Alright I love the way that this is being told. It is so incredibly small town modern and yet it's also that 50's throwback horror film, nowadays we'd say it was a “B-Movie” feature. Eliot manages to find this balance between the two that I wasn't sure was possible. This only serves to reiterate how I feel about him, his skill and talent for storytelling. The story & plot development here is superb as the way we see the sequence of events unfold and how the reader learns information. I like that we aren't given information in advance because that lessens the impact it has when the characters learn it and this is all about having tension and suspense which is delivered beautifully. The character development we see is sharp as all get out. While there are only a few characters that are being centred upon and they are being fleshed out extremely well, Eliot also is able to give us these immediate understandings of the other characters as well. With the way we see the pacing here, which is expertly done by the way, we see the twists & turns in the story that along with everything else helps create this interesting ebb & flow to the book.
I am really rather impressed with the interiors here. John has this really interesting style and he really understands how to incorporate a lot techniques into how he brings the linework to the pages. How we see those and the varying weights bring the attention to detail into focus is divine. I mean the subtlety in how we see the hair, in the lines in the hands and the face and facial expressions is rendered so amazingly well and it really sticks with you. The way that we see the composition inside the panels does a marvellous job of showing depth perception and scale. With the backgrounds being so prevalent as they enhance the moments and bring this great sense of size and scope to the book is joyous for me to see. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show this exemplary talented eye for storytelling. I am really digging the colour work we're seeing here as well. There is this lovely way that hues and tones within any given colour is utilised to create the shading and shadows. There is also some great patterns being utilised and that deer, oy the poor deer, these spectacular moments.
I like that we also see this great sense of humour at work here as well. That policeman listening to the conversation was killing me, softly with his words, in how I was just laughing. The teacher is funny in her own right but not overtly which again I like and it just shows the attention Eliot takes with his writing. Of course Berwyn and what happens with his meeting was a kind of poetic justice and was deliciously nasty. That this book runs the gamut of emotions and does it extremely well all the while keeping us guessing and on our toes is why I couldn't be any happier with this series. Vault is home to some the finest storytelling around and they really are one of the best of the best around right now.