Red Border #1
AWA Upshot Studios 2020
Written by Jason Starr
Illustrated by Will Conrad
Coloured by Ivan Nunes
Lettered by Sal Cipriano
A young Mexican couple narrowly escapes the Juarez Cartel by fleeing across the border into Texas, only to be run down in the desert by the Cartel's most brutal thugs. Rescued by a mysterious local who takes them to the safety of his family's ranch, the couple soon realise their hosts have more than just skeletons in their closet. Trapped in a house of horrors beyond their wildest imagination, the army of assassins on their trail might be the least of their problems.
This is a gorgeous book people. I mean I have no idea what's in the water but dang this is something else too and this may just take the New Company of the Year in a sweep! The writing here is phenomenal and the interiors and mindbogglingly good. As we read this and things start to move along the way Jason keeps this going and how he builds the intrigue is really rather quite impressive. I went into this blind, I didn't know anything about it, and I was caught up in this gripping drama. From the beginning you knew something was going on but not what it was and that kind of started the spiral into madness that ensued.
Sometimes the best stories don't involve folks with powers and abilities and just feature regular ordinary people thrust into surreal situations. It showcases the human spirit and the desire to survive put to the extreme and Jason is doing this and them some. The story & plot development we see through how the sequence of events unfold and how the reader learns information is presented beautifully. The characterisation that we see is sensational. Who we see and how we see them and through their dialogue and actions we start to really get to know and understand. The pacing is great and as it takes us through the pages revealing the twists and turns along the way helps to create the books ebb & flow.
This feels like it can compete with shows on Netflix or like Narcos it just has this ring of actual possibility to it that is both terribly exciting and horribly scary. You know too that when it ends the horrors are just beginning and that's something the gets the adrenaline pumping.
The interiors are amazing! The linework is stupendous and how we see the varying weights being utilised to showcase this quality and level of attention to detail blows me away. The way that the linework is able to bring these people to life, like real people should be, and he faces and facial expressions are incredible as they continue to further the characterisation. We some expert utilisation of backgrounds here and within the composition of the panels to bring us this depth perception, scale and overall sense of size and scope to the book. The visuals here are absolutely gobsmacking! The colour work is utterly gorgeous. How we see the various hues and tones within the colours to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is stupendous stuff. There are some beautiful colour combinations that we see and the choices in the clothing is really quite eye fetching.
Seriously this company started by former Marvel Alums and having some dynamite reputations have found some of the absolute best talent they could and put them together and this, this is the result. By George this is week could see this company with all four of the books in my top ten. I love this story and how it's begun and setting up what is to come.
AWA Upshot Studios 2020
Written by Jason Starr
Illustrated by Will Conrad
Coloured by Ivan Nunes
Lettered by Sal Cipriano
A young Mexican couple narrowly escapes the Juarez Cartel by fleeing across the border into Texas, only to be run down in the desert by the Cartel's most brutal thugs. Rescued by a mysterious local who takes them to the safety of his family's ranch, the couple soon realise their hosts have more than just skeletons in their closet. Trapped in a house of horrors beyond their wildest imagination, the army of assassins on their trail might be the least of their problems.
This is a gorgeous book people. I mean I have no idea what's in the water but dang this is something else too and this may just take the New Company of the Year in a sweep! The writing here is phenomenal and the interiors and mindbogglingly good. As we read this and things start to move along the way Jason keeps this going and how he builds the intrigue is really rather quite impressive. I went into this blind, I didn't know anything about it, and I was caught up in this gripping drama. From the beginning you knew something was going on but not what it was and that kind of started the spiral into madness that ensued.
Sometimes the best stories don't involve folks with powers and abilities and just feature regular ordinary people thrust into surreal situations. It showcases the human spirit and the desire to survive put to the extreme and Jason is doing this and them some. The story & plot development we see through how the sequence of events unfold and how the reader learns information is presented beautifully. The characterisation that we see is sensational. Who we see and how we see them and through their dialogue and actions we start to really get to know and understand. The pacing is great and as it takes us through the pages revealing the twists and turns along the way helps to create the books ebb & flow.
This feels like it can compete with shows on Netflix or like Narcos it just has this ring of actual possibility to it that is both terribly exciting and horribly scary. You know too that when it ends the horrors are just beginning and that's something the gets the adrenaline pumping.
The interiors are amazing! The linework is stupendous and how we see the varying weights being utilised to showcase this quality and level of attention to detail blows me away. The way that the linework is able to bring these people to life, like real people should be, and he faces and facial expressions are incredible as they continue to further the characterisation. We some expert utilisation of backgrounds here and within the composition of the panels to bring us this depth perception, scale and overall sense of size and scope to the book. The visuals here are absolutely gobsmacking! The colour work is utterly gorgeous. How we see the various hues and tones within the colours to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is stupendous stuff. There are some beautiful colour combinations that we see and the choices in the clothing is really quite eye fetching.
Seriously this company started by former Marvel Alums and having some dynamite reputations have found some of the absolute best talent they could and put them together and this, this is the result. By George this is week could see this company with all four of the books in my top ten. I love this story and how it's begun and setting up what is to come.
RSS Feed
