Image Comics 2020
Written by Aleš Kot
Illustrated by Luca Casalanguida
Coloured by Heather Marie Lawrence Moore
Lettered by Aditya Bidikar
Vietnam, 1969. Juarez, forty years later. Three men tied by the war they left behind-on collision course with a new one.
This is why I am such a fan of Aleš and his writing. He has a beautiful mind and his writing is as cerebral as is it just plain interesting and fun. I like the way this book is being told and to see the past and then the present and how they are going to be intertwined and integral to each other throughout the series is solidly rendered here. I am also a fan of being introduced to characters and getting a feel for them even if they aren’t going to be in the main focus of the story. There are a few surprises along the way and the fact that I cannot take anything face value here is something that I appreciate more than you’ll ever know.
The story & plot development we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is perfectly laid out for the reader. I am admiring the way the story is being layered as well and how we see different elements to what these guys went through while they were there. The character development is interesting to see how the characters come to life. War is hell and it changes you so to see these different stages in the lives of these men and how the situations and circumstances shape who they will become. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through these pages revealing the twists and turns along the way we see how everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow.
I am enjoying this a whole heck of a lot more than I was expecting to and that is something that’s pretty darn amazing. I mean this is so much better than I was expecting and Aleš is such a strong, amazing and thoughtful guy when it comes to writing his stories and this is pretty powerful right off the bat. There are some extremely intriguing and thought provoking moments in this that took me by surprise and left a strong impression with me.
The interiors here are really good. I like the linework that we see and how the varying weights are being utilised to show off the detail work is really some damn good work. There is a stylised look and feel to the book that really works well with the subject matter. It also adds the right ambiance so that we get the emotional boost from the art that is surprisingly strong. I like how we see backgrounds being utilised throughout to bring us this depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the book is really well done. 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 extremely well rendered in my opinion. How we see these muted tones as reflective of the story is phenomenal. How we see the hues and tones within the colours utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is beautifully done.
This isn’t your standard fare. What it is however, is something unique, interesting and full of thoughtful storytelling with layers and dimension to it. This is engaging and there is a way that each individual will connect with this that will be theirs alone.