Mad Cave Studios 2018
On Sale Nov. 14th 2018
Written by Mark London
Illustrated by Mauricio Villarreal
Lettered by Andrew S. Zea
Four hundred years separate the Old Testament from the New Testament, and during that time, neither man nor angel could hear God's divine message. In his absence, an age of chaos began. With humanity at the wayside, a power struggle erupts among the Archangels over who will control Father's throne.
I like Mark’s ability to write stories he really is able to keep a very non-biased way of writing this so that doesn’t come across pro-church or even preachy. Instead it all comes across like versions of stories from the bible that are known so it’s based off something that is widely known and his interpretation of events in these pages are fulfilled by characters that we have the ability to get to know in ways other than typically biblical.
So where does the story start? Well if we’re talking God and angels and that it’s supposed to start with the birth of Jesus right? And of course that’s the opening here but it’s not just that it encompasses so much more and I have to admit it fascinates a lot more than I would have thought. As the writing and the interior artwork work together to draw you in and make your mind and imagination work beautifully to make you a part of the story. I do love the way that we go through different era’s and the impact they are going to have on that story at large.
The story itself is easy to understand and the way it was set up is perfectly done. Then when we see Michael and Gabrielle (Gabriel or Gabrielle is a nice way to do this) talking about the state the world is in today. What they are going to do and how they are going to do it and why choices have been made. This is all the things are essential to the characterisation and how the characters are perceived and how Mark brings them to life is bloody brilliant. Also the familial relationship that Michael and Lucifer have is also the adversarial brother type as well and I have to say simply put I fell in love with how Mark has made me feel like a part of this family.
Mauricio is a talent that’s for damn sure. How he is able to bring this story to life visually through computer illustration brings so much of the detail to light. The way we see the snake sneaking up on David and how the wings of the angels make you feel to the way he creates the flow through the pages is masterfully well done. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows off a stupendous eye for storytelling. So the way that we see the backgrounds being utilised makes me terribly happy and how ethereal and majestic it all looks.
I said earlier that Mark keeps this non-preachy and unbiased and I have to say that is one of the key features as to why I think this book works so well. I feel like while the setting and the characters are so well known that the take on what we see here is absolutely unique and original and it breaks free of what you expect or any kind of stereotype that is in your mind and you need to see for yourself just how good this point of view is.
This is a first issue that you seriously do not want to miss out on. I keep telling you that these small press companies are putting stories that will amaze you and rock your world and this is one that will do that and more. The writing is incredibly solid with it’s pacing, flow and the way he’s able to make even angels feel like people.