Vault Comics 2018
Written by Dan Watters
Illustrated by Val Rodrigues
Coloured by Triona Farrell
Lettered by Aditya Bidikar
As two worlds bleed each other for survival, infection spreads into the city, threatening to turn the bones of London to dust. Meanwhile, the Otherworld’s rusting protector must face a horror wrought by the modern age.
I really liked the first issue of this and how we saw that Arthurian fighter come back to life while on our plane of existence we were introduced to a number of characters that fleshed out the book nicely. So I had high expectations coming into this second issue and was hoping we didn’t get a sophomore slump. Well I am happy to report that we didn’t but there will be no play by play either because well that would be rude. But the opening is good stuff where the reader gets to see what our dear Inspector thinks of what is happening.
Meanwhile in the Otherworld the warrior is searching. While that happens the ladies tend to the walker, Dermot. God ya it wouldn’t kill ya Dan to use names in the darn story I mean I don’t know the name of the angry young woman who is travelling with the Doc, or the Inspector so trying to write a review is harder than it should be. I gotta say that the Doc being who she is, which is much nicer thanks to a good bedside manner and her companion being so being so brutish do make for an interesting pair. More so when it would seem the brutish way is much more effective.
How does one become so damaged anyway? When cranky pants starts having a vision, for us it’s a flashback, to when she was eight and there was an oil spill somewhere we start to learn how her world was formed. It’s a very good way to get in some background information and characterisation in on her that helps the reader understand her more. Also while her knowledge of the book and how it unfolds is incredibly creepy as she narrates what it is the Knight is doing.
What he is doing is discovering a human building in the middle of the woods. I love it because you see how unprepared they were to be in this environment regardless of the computers and technology. They couldn’t have been there long not with the level of technology that we’re seeing here being present. The Knight might be a guardian of the realm but he’s been gone too long and there are things here that will try to eat even him.
The interiors here are so interesting to see come to life. What Val and Triona do is so remarkable in that our plane has that normal look and feel to it, for the most part, and the otherworld feels like an Edvard Munch painting. The two have such unique and different looks and that they so easily become one story is extremely impressive to me. The utilisation of page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows off such an impressive eye for storytelling. While all of this is massively impressive to see the linework on Dermot and the Knight and how they are represented with this attention to detail furthering this whole demonstration of skill and technique that really makes this pop. Every time I see the knight and his armour or the hair and skin tone of Dermot I kind of get mesmerised.
The way that this book is structured is fantastic, the pacing is perfect and the way that as a reader I can see how all three different aspects will inevitably merge into one where all characters should be present is what is going to keep me coming back. That and I cannot wait until the Inspector gets her dressing down in some manner because she tries too hard to be a badass and it comes off the wrong way, again stellar characterisation.
Myths & legends, heroes & villains and a war being fought to survive. Who is in the right and who’s in the wrong is all a matter of perspective when all you want to do is continue to exist. This is a blend of science fiction and fantasy that is a delightful as cold brewed coffee infused into red wine is delicious.