Aftershock Comics 2020
Written by B. Clay Moore
Illustrated by Stephen Molnar
Lettered by Thomas Mauer
Amara Bishop is a newly single mother with a long-buried past. Raised by an alcoholic father in a rundown trailer, Amara was a child when she learned to kill. And she hasn't killed anyone since she was thirteen. When her aging mentor is murdered, and her daughter is threatened, that will soon change…
Can I say one thing, having a next issue blurb on the last page (?) ruins the cliffhanger ending. I was so shocked by what we saw and I was starting to lose my mind a bit till I read that so I think someone needs to make sure that it’s not going to spoil things. In my head I’ve figured out how the next issue is going to open already and I really didn’t want that because the last page of the actual story is so powerful.
The opening is frakkin amazing! Oh this is why I am a huge fan of Clay’s and Hawaiian Dick is one I am patiently waiting for the next arc to come out. The way he’s able to craft a story and hit you at just the right moments is something that he can do that others wish they could do. While I wish the splash page was the first one it’s all good the way it plays out for us, I mean damn I didn’t see it coming the way it did.
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. The character development is marvellous as we see their conversations and how they act and react to situations and circumstances they encounter. I love that Alea is a smartarse and that she can banter with her mum and yet still not know who Vidal Sassoon is. It’s often the little moments like that, that people remember because so few writers remember to put it in their work. The pacing is perfect and as it takes us through the pages introducing us to the characters and the world they live in it is easy to see how everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow.
The way this is structured and how we see different layers woven through just enhance the engagement factor tenfold. Admit it, you love when your mind goes places you weren’t expecting because of what you see in the story where a gap is left unexplained.
The interiors here are utterly fantastic to see. The linework is phenomenal and how the varying weights and the various techniques that we see are being utilised to showcase such beautiful detail is stunning stuff. Let’s talk about how mum is a body builder shall we? I mean c’mon she’s buff as all hell and it looks natural, as in she works hard for it. The proportions are spot on and instead of making her look like a super heroine she looks like a badarse body builder and the difference may be hard for some to understand but I'll be damned if it isn’t perfect. The way we see backgrounds here are utilised throughout and i have to say they really do wonders in fleshing out moments and completing scenes as well furthering characterisation. We also get some great depth perception, sense of scale and that overall sense of size and scope to the book from them. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show such an amazingly talented eye for storytelling. The colour work is divine, simple, muted and yet how we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is exquisitely rendered. I am a huge fan of the techniques I see in laying the colour that are so impressive.
This is classic Aftershock. Not to mention Clay’s amazing ability to create, craft and deliver a story at a level of quality that puts him in a league of his own. Doesn’t matter which genre you prefer, this is going to leave a mark on your psyche and you will welcome it with open arms.