Image Comics 2018
Written by Kyle Higgins
Illustrated by Stephen Mooney
Coloured by Jordie Bellaire
Lettered by Clayton Cowles
Mountain View's secrets continue to unspool, even as Carter and Renae fight to protect Roger from the outside world...with deadly consequences.
Holy amazeballs people it seems everywhere I turn these days this a book, series or story that is just rocking my world. This one is out there and I love it, the idea of it, the reality and execution of it as well as sheer audacity of all of it combined needs nee begs for explanation and the reader isn’t going to go anywhere until that’s been done. Already the mind is blown and the comprehension of the situation is brought forth but the severity and complete and utter scope is barely scratched.
Kyle is weaving something that mixes a world at war, spy thriller and science fiction story together in this new creative way to keep us guessing at every turn. With this story while all the usual tricks apply, that attention grabbing opening which gives us backstory for example with something akin to almost a Captain America type in Carter and a whole familiar atmosphere lull the reader into believing this is something that it’s not. To find out what it is will require you actually reading the series but I gotta tell ya you will not be disappointed!
The way this is structured so we see the past and how it leads to the present does have a nice get to know you effect but it leaves so many questions unanswered and it’s bloody brilliant. When the reporter or writer or whatever he is and or was stumbles into town it literally feels the end is near and its going to set off that chain reaction that cannot be stopped. The teenagers born here are typical and want to know things and we see one question so much without any response that you just know something is going to come of it. It is very much like a Doozer structure, strong and sturdy but with a fragility to match.
So not to be outdone by the writing here Stephen and Jordie do some utterly sensational work here. Seriously I love the blond hair and how it looks here without all the black linework it’s pretty spectacular. Then there are the characters themselves the range of ages and ethnicities are amazingly diverse. The utilisation of page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows off Stephen’s stunning eye for storytelling. I am loving the attention to detail that he brings to the work and he manipulates the weight of the linework to create these people, this town and small details that show how far back progress is within the living population here.
The book really is stunning in so many ways. The way one action can lead directly into the past showing who that person used to be and in all the ways that count still is, is remarkably well done. Carter and Renae’s complicated history that has love, anger, deceit and yes respect is not only perfectly complicated but leaves you with the desire to know more. Inherently in a good story the characters come to life and make you want to like them or hate them and at the very least understand them but somehow Kyle manages to take that to a whole new level.
The ending for this issue threw me for a loop and a half. The interaction we see with Carter and Roger is pretty weird but still not outside the realm of believable. Then comes the last page and yeah mind blown completely through a black and hold and back to my head. The intensity of this story will not leave you to rest and i’m okay with that.