Dark Horse Comics 2019
Written by Paul Maybury
Illustrated by Sam Lotfi
Coloured by John Rauch
Lettered by Adam Pruett
Another passenger falls victim to the phantom killer on the Boston Orange Line. This sparks Detective Torres and her new partner to investigate evidence which incriminates Yusef. Meanwhile, Yusef must control his unearthly visions while on the run to avoid being captured by the determined detectives.
There is something about this story that puzzles me and it is among the reasons why I came back and why I will continue to come back for the entire run. For example Wolf and that zombie dude I mean are they actually monsters or is this something else entirely, I mean Wolf tells Zev to tone the cosplay down but there seems to be something off one’s trolley about seeing them like this here. Now that being said there’s also something off-kilter about Yusef and what’s taken a hold of him as well and whether that is internal or external remains to be seen but regardless he’s the catalyst here and while I have my own suspicions about the whole thing and who’s involved I can’t wait to see how Paul takes it from here.
I like the way this is structured. Paul does an amazing job introducing us to new characters and one’s we’ve already met while keeping everything running smoothly. Between the action and the story & plot development here, along with this sensational character development we never have a dull moment. I mean poor Beatriz but then I wonder what’s happening in that part of the story, I mean it is a nice little side bit and she does like Yusef as the two are capable of signing to each other. Then we get to meet Detective Benjamin Damon who is assigned to the case with Detective Torres. I am pretty sure with a name like Damon along with this personality you can find your own correlations but I found it extremely funny. He is one who is fleshed out in a very, very spectacular way that leaves little doubt he’s a man who will ever change his attitude. Doesn’t every story need that one person we love to hate or is that just me? Well either way it is so incredibly well done so bravo.
I am also a very big fan of the interior artwork here as well. With this being in Boston during the winter and seeing how the colour work on the snow is being done is beyond anything I could’ve hoped for. Then on the train yeah all that red wow, it’s got multiple tones to it and there’s some gradation in it and it is a complete wow factor. I still love the Carmen San Diego, or Dick Tracy, outfit on her though I wish she had a hat. The way that the linework is utilised to create this attention to detail is fantastic. Plus we get a fair amount of backgrounds in play here to expand the moments and the size and scope of the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show an extremely good eye for storytelling.
So while we go through this story and wonder what the connection between Torres and Yusef really is, see this is where the readers’ mind becomes engaged and goes off page. Which you all know is one of the ways I gauge how good the writing is. Then we get this crazy last page and it all feels out of place with what we’ve already seen. So once again Paul demonstrates that he can do this sensational story & plot development with pacing that takes the reader on a journey the pages and beyond. That along with the character development, see characterisation, and these amazing pages of interior artwork to fully envelope the reader in this strange and fascinating story.