
Action Lab Entertainment 2019
Written by John Reilly
Illustrated by Tom Rogers
Coloured & Lettered by Dexter Weeks
Einstein reveals the truth about his work with Edison. Hitler begins his search for a new cult ally. Howard and Sonia deal with the ramifications of their curse. Tesla uses the Ceryx ex Praeterito to revel in nostalgia.
I find myself being drawn to books such as this one, it has to do with the way we see these characters being utilised. These men that we are seeing within these pages are some of the greatest minds to have existed and as well as being complete enigma's. So whether it's in Sanctuary, Rough Riders and now this it is the promise their minds and personalities being fleshed out in ways that are new, different, fresh and that adventurous kind of exciting that capture the readers attention, imagination and creativity.
The way that John is telling this story is amazing! We see these men with very different, distinct and high-strung personalities and they are attempting to work with with one another and they clash all too often. However in how I see this happening is they clash more like siblings than true rivals, friends whether they admit it or not and all the entrapment's that brings. The story & plot development that we see alongside the character development manage to bring about how we see the release of information, revelations, including how they really feel about one another, and thanks to the excellent pacing here the twists and turns as well.
Sometimes we see how new characters are introduced to the series and how they manage to fit into the grand scheme of things or just as those who hold special places in their hearts. Like Nikola and Amelia, who as this time has been lost to the world and no one seems to know where. So John has this way of being able to engage the reader by taking them off-script with what they know or think they know of the characters already and trying to reconcile all of this in their minds. So thus being invested as well as engaged in the book in some truly wondrous ways.
The interior artwork here is really extremely well done. The all-ages style is stupendous and the way it is also is utilised to create this beautiful attention to detail is so well done. The little details in what we see like the diving bell suit mask or that house in Vienna we see from the outside are what make this as familiar and haunting as it is. There is also this creativity and imagination in what we see that is extraordinary, most inside the house in Vienna or with the spawn of an Elder God's fluids. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a supremely solid eye for storytelling. Backgrounds being utilised like they are enhance the moments and bring a nice size and scope to the book. The colour work is wonderful and I really like how we see the colours utilised to create shading and shadows is so well done.
The characterisation we see and how it is utilised to bring characters to life and changing how we see them is delightful. I like that Tesla doesn't believe others when they say they are in danger from threats and yet he's built a dreaming machine to see his memories making him selfish and a complete hypocrite and yet he's still entirely lovable which is weird but a testament to how well this is being written.
This is like taking a PBS cartoon and amping it up a few volumes such as Maya and Miguel or The Wild Kratts mixed with the feel of a haunted history story. This is the apex of having great adventures while learning and something any supper table would be honoured to have a discussion at.