Image/Shadowline/Anomaly Productions 2021
Written & Illustrated by Brian Haberlin
Coloured by Geirrod Van Dyke
Lettered by Francis Takenaga
“WELCOME TO HELL”
When mankind first broke through the walls between dimensions, nothing could have prepared them for what they would find in Known Reality Plane 1301-A: it was absolute Hell. Literally. A covert security force was quickly assembled to patrol the Hellplane and ensure that none of the nastier denizens made their way Earthside. They were dubbed the Pan-Dimensional Security Corps.
I will say this, the opening is one surefire way to grab the readers’ attention and to get them to immediately like a character. The deadpan one-liner was enough for me to know that this guy was someone I was going to enjoy watching. Once we go back to how the book opens up the irony or what I like to call British Humour is clearly evident and carries through the entire book making me laugh at so many, most likely, inappropriate moments. Brian does such an extraordinary job in crafting the story and bringing it to life for us that it is such a pure joy to experience. It may deal with what we call Hell, or the amalgamation of what hell would be if all religions and cultures viewpoints were melded into one place, but it reads very much like a classic science fiction story.
I’m loving the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through the narration, the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter as it establishes their baseline personality. Of which there isn't one we meet that isn’t interesting in some way shape or form. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages introducing us to this story, the characters and the worlds they live in we are left wanting to see and know oh so much more.
I greatly appreciate the way that we see this being structured and how the layers within the story begin to emerge and grow. The more we explore this world through its layers the more avenues open up to be explored and all this keeps adding such great depth, dimension and complexity to the story. There should be telltale clues as to what is going to happen but Brian manages to keep these at bay and really take us on a journey here. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is immaculately achieved.
To say I’m a huge fan of the interiors is to do a disservice to Brian and what he and Geirrod are capable of doing. The linework we see is utterly phenomenal and how the varying weights and techniques are being utilised to create this level & quality in the attention to detail that we see is astonishing! How we see backgrounds being utilised to enhance and expand the moments as well as how they work within the composition of the panels brings out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to this story. The creativity and imagination that we see is out of this world good. It really captures both what people think they know and what they could only imagine. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkably talented eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work show a master colourist at work.
The concept is superb, the execution is nearly flawless while the writing is sensational and the characterisation is phenomenal. All this is wrapped up in these bloody amazing interiors bringing it all to life. This is the epitome of what good, strong, solid storytelling is pure and simple.