Marvel Comics 2021
Written by Jonathan Hickman
Illustrated by Stefano Caelli
Coloured by David Curiel
Lettered by VC’s Joe Sabino
FEEL THE FIRE!
Secrets. Lies. They have a way of coming out and biting you when you least expect them. The secrets and lies of Krakoa will shake it to its foundation.
Now that they’ve stopped singing Kumbaya it’s time to see what happens when they stop being polite and start getting real. This is more aligned with what I think of these characters, backstabbing, manipulation, secret machinations and showing one's true colours. Some of these characters should never have been brought back to life nor should they have been allowed to live on Krakoa. Still a nation for mutants where there are supposed rules to be followed and then the likes of Shaw and Mystique who were never ones to follow any rules but their own are allowed to run unchecked makes for some of the most intriguing reading. Also that Charles and Erik are playing the devil’s fiddle while Mystique is playing like Johnny for that golden fiddle. Well there’s just no discernable contest right now. Throw a very angry and irate Moira into this mix and it really does become a recipe for disaster. Now instead of taking the offensive the group has to play defense and this isn't going to help them in the long run when they are already too many steps behind.
I like the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. The character 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 does a marvellous job on keeping their personalities front and centre. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing more of hte story we begin to see just how complex and complicated this really is.
I am very much enjoying the way that this is being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen. I’m a fan of the way we see the layers open up avenues to be explored and how explosive those moments not only become but can become thanks to the depth, dimension and complexity to the story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is impeccably rendered.
I do very much like the interiors here. The linework is clean, crisp and sharp while the varying weights and techniques do a lot in creating the detail within the work is exceptionally well rendered. How we see backgrounds being utilised throughout the book enhance and expand the moments beautifully. They also work with the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story. 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 are being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work show this superb understanding of how colour works.
I find it rather interesting that there are this many different factions existing side by side on Krakoa and yet the one hand has no idea what the other is doing. It is like this with any governing council where you have all these chiefs and no Indians each with their own agenda and trying to play each other like pieces on a chessboard. Ever since Krakoa became home to Mutantkind this has been building up and I am super intrigued to see how all this is going to play out and why Moira is deathly afraid of being found out. This is smartly written with strong characterisation alongside some seriously good interiors making this feel more of a joy to read this way.