Aftershock Comics 2020
Written by Zac Thompson
Illustrated by Jen Hickman
Lettered by Simon Bowland
Catrin Vander, a lonely video producer, buys an Artificial Intelligence partner that’s meant to bond for life. After ten years together, her holographic wife suddenly discon-nects without a warning. The breakup drives Catrin to the point of near insanity. She's alone for the first time in years and reeling from a loss she can’t comprehend.
Now while I am not 100% sure what it is I just read I do know that I wish it had a gender reversal. This kind of story we’ve seen time and again but never with men and that’s a little depressing considering what year it is, all the fighting for equality regardless of race, gender or sexual orientation. So why is it that the comics industry is so afraid of gay men? Small rant over for the moment.
I will say this interested me on so many different levels. I mean not only does this engage the readers’ mind but it does so in such a way that makes science fiction feel full on creepy again. It is a feeling I have missed too and the subtle difference between creepy and outright horror may be a thin line, like the one between love and hate, but I have to say that what I have seen out of this issue certainly balances that line perfectly. Somehow some way we are able to identify with Catrin, after all who hasn’t had a relationship that has gone south and sour, and it’s this empathy we feel for her is what makes this feel grounded to me.
I really 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 beautifully as it moves the story ever forward. Now the character development is interesting and while at first I may have been a tad lost I did eventually find my way and the more we see of what is happening the more interesting things become. The pacing here is phenomenal and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story and the world she lives in we can see just how well everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow. There is also the way that we see how well this book is structured and this is just incredibly impressive all the way around.
Jen’s work on the interiors here are freakin’ amazing! The linework is stunning and the varying that are being utilised to show off the attention to detail really makes a huge impact on how we see this book. Jen’s style is beautiful for this story and while I normally want to see a myriad of things going on the streamlined look and the attention to the characters continues to impress me and blow me away. The way backgrounds are utilised extremely well and the sex well that’s tasteful, see what I did there. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkable eye for storytelling. The colour work is gorgeous as well. I love how we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work. Plus those green backgrounds yeah that kind of painting technique and the range we see is over the top beautiful to see.
This is why Aftershock continues to be on the forefront in comics. They keep setting new standards, new heights and new takes on some genres that you never even thought about. This is uncompromisingly one of the most intriguing new series to hit stands.