Aftershock Comics 2017
Created & Written by Cullen Bunn
Illustrated by Juan Doe
Lettered by Dave Sharpe
Shrae's Ark is in turmoil. What more would you expect upon a vessel populated by the worst monsters in all of creation. Now, however, the Ark has attracted the attention of powerful forces—vengeful angelic forces serving the will of the Lord.
God I am loving this book from a sheer creative standpoint. I mean all those things that go bump in the night or hide under the bed, the things we are taught to scare us into behaving all on one ark in the ocean keeping pace with Noah and those that travel with him. Only a human and his family are in charge of this Dark Ark and though a sorcerer he may be, chosen for this task by what cannot be named he is still just a man. Therein lies the meat of the story, just a man and his family.
With manipulation and treachery Nex has sewn the seeds of dissent and his kind have attacked the ark. That is where we pick things up here. I really like the way Cullen continues to surprise me through the course of action here. When Nex bites Shrae with the intention of draining him dry the fun begins and it doesn’t let up. This is a full on vampire attack from inside and from underneath and they have the numbers now so how do the denizens of the Ark plan to survive this attack?
I actually like that this attack is happening now because these creatures desperately needed to be reigned in and shown who’s boss. Also those who survive this attack will find themselves united in a way that Nex could not have imagined. After all there is a strange bond between survivors and it can act as something that makes them all understand they need to work together to survive. I will be interested in seeing how the outcome of this impacts all the different beings left on board. With Cullen I cannot say with any kind of certainty where he intends to go so I’m going to anxiously wait to see.
I hate to sound like a broken record but seriously as much as Juan is trying his damnedest he really needs replacing here. Seeing Nex after he bit Shrae I kept thinking to myself what the hell am I looking at? The angle was horrid and the stretched out face out of proportion and I thought perhaps something was wrong with him but who could tell he seemed like a cartooned out fun-house mirror Joker, or at times a Scooby Doo villain at times. These beings really need to come across as threatening, scary and of evil intent and instead they feel like prizes won at the carnival or from those claw machines. Also did he google what a Manticore even looks like because where is it’s stinger? I am completely underwhelmed by what I am seeing and I don’t feel it matches in any way shape or form. It is what keeps this from being the book it should be in my humble opinion.
So Krull is still an enigma to me, he has a mate yes but they don’t seem to get along and he has this whole fascination with Janris that has this whole inter-species romantic side that is creepy yet fascinating. His loyalty and motives may remain a mystery but the way Cullen keeps showing us bits and pieces make him one of those we want to see more of.
There will be consequences to the vampire attack that won’t know about till much later, thinking about those bit and drank from but not killed, as well as how they’ve dealt with Nex. I love Cullen’s writing and how he’s bringing this look at the dark side of life and whether they make it to the land that remains or when the waters recede is up in the air but in the meantime I’ll be here to see what he does with these passengers aboard the Dark Ark!