Vault Comics 2019
Created & Written by Eliot Rahal
Illustrated by John Bivens
Coloured by Jerrie & Monahan
Lettered by Taylor Esposito
Love, death, and hormones. The identity of Jarrod Parker’s secret CB radio lover has been revealed. Unfortunately, the two teens don’t have much of an opportunity to discuss their very complicated feelings. After all, Jarrod’s brother just died. And the world is ending.
Sigh I love this for so many different reasons. It feels like we're watching something out of Svengoolie's archives that's been reworked by Sam Raimi. So it's still awkward, unbelievable and laced with dark humour but at the same time it's incredibly fun! Eliot manages to find the right blend, mix or formulae and he has run with it creating something extraordinary. The characters are fantastic and the writing is strong and carries us from the first page to the last and it happens all too quickly in my humble opinion.
The way that this is being told makes me joyful. The opening is great as we see some of the folks who have encountered the slugs are now at the hospital and ya know what I cannot wait for all hell to break loose and then see what happens. What this really does is show the reader how widespread the slugs have gotten and it's easier to do so in this setting than by trying to go around town and the outlying areas. It's damn smart if you ask me and it's one of those tools a good writer will have in their arsenal.
The story & plot development that we see through the sequence of events unfolding before our eyes and how the reader learns information is exceptionally well done. How we see the characters become aware of what's happening and what their plans are after is well portrayed. The character development we're seeing is fantastic and how through their experiences we see the grow and evolve is really well done. The pacing is good and strong and as it takes us through pages bring us the twists and turns off of which creates the books ebb & flow. Plus there's nothing like finding out who your crushing on is someone you've known your entire life while also finding out your brother died and that slugs are trying to eat and kill people. This is a lot to digest in a short amount of time and yet Jarrod is holding up a lot better than I could have predicted.
The interiors here are really something. The linework is utterly sensational to see and how the varying weights are utilised to bring us this quality and level of attention to detail is phenomenal to see. I love how we are seeing through the rain and that we still see the detail in the house, the characters themselves with their facial expressions. The composition inside the panels and with the backgrounds being utilised do a very nice job of being us depth perception, scale and bring a sense of size and scope to the book. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a talented eye for storytelling. The colour work is good and I like the way that we see how the various hues and tones within a colour is utilised to create shading, highlights and shadows is great work.
While the whole idea is totally a “B-Film” lovers delight the way that this is executed and how well Eliot is writing it elevates this to world class storytelling. Vault Comics is home to some of the most intriguing and well told stories the encompass a wide array of Science Fiction stories. Then at a deadly pace, It Came From Outer Space, And this is how the message ran... Science fiction (ooh ooh ooh) double feature Doctor X (ooh ooh ooh) will build a creature See androids fighting (ooh ooh ooh) Brad and Janet, Anne Francis stars in (ooh ooh ooh) Forbidden Planet in the late night double feature picture show.