Space Goat Productions 2016
Written by Llexi Leon & Justin Peniston
Line Art by Jason Metcalf
Inked by Tony Kordos & Juan Castro
Coloured by Garry Henderson & Chris Summers
Lettered by Charles Pritchett & Taylor Esposito
If you are familiar with Eternal Descent this is a great look at Cobalt and how he came into his own. If this is your introduction to the franchise you are in for a treat and a chance to get in on the ground floor. Though fair warning you’ll want to read the IDW trade from 2010 after reading this introduction to Cobalt.
I have to say I like how this story is being told. We not only get a look at how Rick Drake sees the world but we get to hear about from the journal of Chara Gianopoulos. She’s his psychiatrist/doctor and Rick is diagnosed with an acute & remarkable form of Chronic Hallucinatory Psychosis. This what those who see the world as it is, the evil people are capable of or the demons in the form of man see. Rick is a very special individual and as a young man in college unable to truly understand what’s happening with him he’s on the most powerful course of clozapine the FDA allows.
I have to say I really enjoyed the original run and thought it wildly imaginative and creative but with time I think Llexi has matured as a writer and the work he’s doing with Justin here is really quite strong. I think the way they’ve structured the story and by using two points of view here is effective in seeing how he sees himself and his ability and how it’s seen from outsiders point of view. So the way the story flows with the both the dialogue and the narration provides us as readers with a really complete look at Rick.
I love that Jason’s back for this you can see how much he’s grown as an artist here. His work has this incredible attention to detail and his creativity and imagination are on full display as he brings us what Rick sees. His eye for storytelling using page layouts with their angles, perspective and backgrounds tell the complete story and utilise everything to get that emotion, tone and feel of what is going on at that particular moment. With strong linework it’s easy to see how well the inkers and colourists are able to finish it all off and bring it to life. Such good strong flowing and powerful interiors here.
There’s two parts of this story that really do stand out for me. One is obviously the look at the world he inhabits filled with people that are questionable character and those that pure evil or demons. That this world has all these kinds of people that he can see, hear and interact with would drive a normal person mad. Thanks to all his years dealing with this and the medication he’s been on the horror of it is long gone. So he’s able to start seeing things for who and what they are and that’s where part two comes in.
It’s very much a coming of age story as well. Realising what it is you have and deciding on the right course of action, for you, to take. In this case you’ll see where this leads him but it’s his path and his choice. So the maturity and realisations that he comes to really kind of make him able to stand on his own two feet.
One-shots can be hard to really pack in everything you want to get across but I think the guys here do exactly that and do it extremely well.