Skybound/Image comics 2017
Written by James Asmus, Joseph Keatinge, Christopher Sebela
and Joshua Williamson
Illustrated by Joe Infurnari
Coloured by Jordan Boyd
Lettered by Pat Brosseau
Something is happening to humanity across the world. What ties together a college dropout in Santa Monica, a rogue doctor in Philadelphia, and a nun in the Vatican? The answer already lies dormant within you.
Now that I’ve had a chance to read the second issue I have to say I am more intrigued than ever. There is something different and special about the way a book can be crafted by four different writers writing on the same subject from different angles that will converge in unknown ways. I love that each writer has a different segment covering a different version of the story, from a scientist to a nun and more which is a great cross-section of people with no ties to one another invariably heading on the same course.
Poor Sister Hannah has found she is infected with whatever this is and the opening here is excruciating. I mean that in a way that is both sad, fascinating and emotionally telling. It really does set the stage for this issue rather nicely. I mean usually with the second issue we’re still in something of a development stage and yet here we’re running full throttle into the meat of it. Yes it’s the beginning of that but still it is moving awfully quick.
With our scientist having stayed up way past the point of sleep deprivation as he struggles with the virus at hand and trying to explain it to someone who clearly doesn’t want to hear it. The dialogue and the characterisation here is utterly spectacular. Each segment may have been written by a different man but they all read as if it were of one mind. To be able to have them all sync up so well is either by design or just a sheer stroke of luck and either way I am here to tell you that it makes this an even better read than I had imagined.
Then there’s Joe who manages to keep it all tied together with the visuals. Another smart move to keep one artist on the entire book and he and Jordan make this some extremely interesting stuff. I mean I am kind of loving the whole scratchy look to what I'm seeing as it adds this weird ambiance to it that just exudes from the pages. The use of page layouts with the angles & perspective that we see in the panels is so strong and shows a very calculated and wonderful eye for storytelling. Add to all that we get this whole gross creativity and imagination that’s extremely delightful to witness. I dunno what these organisms are but they look kind of alien, sea creature cool.
I’m finding only one person throughout the whole that I don’t like and that’s Rochelle. I don’t like her, her attitude and her cowardice. She’s self-centred and without feeling for others. Okay she’s a woman of colour and a lesbian, make her a handicapped Jewess and it’s the ultimate perfect storm, and she probably had a hard life but that’s absolutely no excuse for her behaviour here. Then again this goes back to the stellar characterisation that we’re seeing here and how it makes the reader feel and it’s exceedingly well done.
As the mysteries continue to deepen the story becomes more involved, complex and interesting but then that’s the way the story should be structured. The ebb and flow here is amazing to witness and that it flows through multiple hands makes that even more so. I’m not so sure this is evolution but it certainly is something that is mutating people faster than natural selection ever could or should and that is something I find the most fascinating. I doubt we’ll find scientific explanations here but I would be over the moon if we did.
There is a fascination and excitement here that comes with the unknown and horror that lies within capable of terrifying the world. It makes me shiver with anticipation.