Aftershock Comics 2021
Written by Elliott Kalan
Illustrated by Andrea Mutti
Lettered by Taylor Esposito
Detective Zelda Pettibone and mayoral advisor/angel of vengeance Gina Greene are onboard the death train and determined to end Maniac Harry’s rampage of terror once and for all! But what chance do two people have against an unkillable, mindless engine of death? And with Harry hot on the heels of the train’s only survivors, will there be anyone left to save? Plus: a glimpse of Gina’s earliest summer camp encounter with the Maniac!
The opening here is kind of great because we actually get to see a very teenage Harry going on a rampage as we discover that this was the first time that Gina Greene came face to face with the Maniac of New York. So we finally know what the connection between Gina and Harry is and why she was so hell-bound and determined to be leading up the task force to go after him, even if she was the only task force member until Zelda got placed on it as a disciplinary action. I like it and even more because it doesn’t go into Harry’s origins just the first time the two characters met and now here they are once more on the automated Subway line face to face once more.
I love the way that this is being told. How we see the story & plot development constantly moving forward through how the sequence of events unfold and how the reader learns information are presented exceedingly well. For instance now we know why Gina froze for a moment when coming face to face with him and while we rocket towards the stories conclusion all the little pieces are finally starting to fit into place. The character development that we see is phenomenal thanks to the dialogue, the character interaction and how they act and react to the situations and circumstances that they encounter. The pacing is perfect and as it takes us through the pages revealing the twists & turns along the way it’s great to feel like all built up tension and angst seems to finally be coming to a head.
How we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to grow, evolve and strengthen really help us to navigate how deliciously the depth and complexity of 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 achieved exceptionally well.
Andrea’s interiors are works of art and from the linework through how he paints the imagery what we see is so expressive and full of life, and death. That he utilises backgrounds and makes the subway cars feel cramped is perfectly rendered. To see how he manages to create the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story is utterly marvellous. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a masters eye for storytelling. The colour work is extraordinary! How we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work show a natural eye for how colour works. Also the colour choices that we see really are rather inspired.
That these two women manage to chase Harry off and save the two kids, the first to be save from him mind you, may have just landed them in hot water. Though thanks to press they’ll be lauded as heroes just not according to their boss who doesn’t seem to understand what its going to take to stop Harry. He’s like Jason or Michael and nothing seems to stop him, at least not yet and it’ll be interesting to see just what it will take to stop the Maniac of New York! With a sharp wit and savvy dialogue alongside some beautiful interiors this book is sure to thrill horror fans the world over.