Aftershock Comics 2017
Created & Written by Cullen Bunn
Illustrated by Juan Doe
Lettered by Ryane Hill
The wickedness of mankind has moved the Creator to destroy the world by way of the flood. Noah has been tasked with building an ark to save his family and the animals of the world. But this is not Noah's story. For darker powers have commanded the sorcerer Shrae to build his own ark and save the unnatural creatures of the world—such as the vampires, the dragons, the naga, and the manticore. But what will happen on a vessel crawling with monsters, where insidious intrigue and horrific violence are the rule of law?
I like this and why wouldn’t I? I mean lets face it as long as we’ve had recorded history there’s proof that we’ve been fascinated by things that go bump in the night. Magical creatures that shouldn’t exist and we wonder why they don’t or why we haven’t seen their fossilised bones but most don’t care about the scientific side just the side that makes us squirm in either terror or delight. Plus who else is going to be writing something like this but Cullen? The man’s a genius and he’s got so much inside that mind of his that needs unleashing and boy this is his time to shine!
Ya know what I love about this is that Cullen manages to bring us the first issue and lay out the ground rules for us. Why do there have to be ground rules? Well we’re talking about all those things that shouldn’t exist and their appetites are legendary so naturally rules have to be established if they are all going to survive till it stops raining and the waters recede. The concept here is utterly amazing and I have to say that while it shouldn’t make any sense at all it absolutely does make perfect sense. This issue is crafted beautifully and it’s pacing and revelations all come with this surprisingly perfect sense of timing.
Shae may be an “evil” sorcerer who built himself an ark at the whims of the well yeah i’m gonna call it Lucifer, God’s opposite who somehow had knowledge of Noah being conscripted by God to save the creatures he loves. Now why shouldn’t all creatures be saved and not just those beloved by god? I mean Unicorns weren’t chosen by god right because they are mystical in nature, btw they do have a place in this ark however. So with Unicorns on this Dark Ark there must be other mythical creatures of light on board as well right? Well I guess we’ll see as the series progresses how many different creatures exist here.
Juan is amazing here! It isn’t easy to take some of mythology’s greatest, fiercest and most notorious of creatures and bring them to life with your own vision. Yet he does it here and while they are pretty much instantly recognisable they are also incredibly unique and showcase his creativity extremely well. His style isn’t one of tight detail but has this more imagined, not opaque but interpretive by the reader’s mind. The emotion and feelings he can bring to the page here are extraordinary.
The characterisation here is utterly splendid. From Shae finding a way to feel important and atone for the sins of his past so that his family may live to the inherent personality traits of those beings on board the Dark Ark. Then there’s the personalities of his children and those people who are captive aboard the ark meant to be food for those creatures. The way Cullen can get you to understand who these let’s call them all people are and get you to find a connection with them is one of those things that cannot be overlooked.
I love that Shae still has secrets from everyone, his family the creatures and the abductees as well as from himself in some ways. These creatures have their own hierarchy among themselves as well, groupings and clique and such so that life on board here will be very interesting indeed. I mean some of these are hunters others their prey so to be on board with one another well the dynamic that is there to be explored has such delicious potential. I mean c’mon how often do we get to see creatures such as these as captive audiences and the chance to flesh out personalities and characteristics?
Aftershock continues to allow such freedom for their creators to explore realms, story ideas and whatever strikes their fancy and let’s us see those astonishing results. I feel privileged to get the chance to explore these strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before, and what a wonderful ride it is!