Evoluzione Publishing 2018
Created & Written by Robert Jeffrey II
Illustrated by Matteo Illuminati
Coloured & Lettered by Loris Ravina
Now on a cyberpunk stage where technological wonders leave no place for creatures of legend, the LaLauries and their denizens reappear, continuing their blood-soaked quest for obtaining ultimate power. Time will tell if the remaining members of the fractured Cabal can stand as the bulwark between humanity and the rising hordes of darkness.
Now as far as opening goes this one is utterly effin bloody brilliant! High up in the Swiss Alps the LaLauries are making their re-emergence with the heads of the worlds top supernatural houses. The introduction all around is nothing short of spectacular. The diversity among them is something I hadn’t expected to see and I have to admit this makes me a lot more intrigued than I already was, and after the stellar debut I have high expectations. The direction of the writing here is so incredibly strong, I feel as if I already understand the how and why of what we are seeing and where it’s going to lead us.
The way that this is structured and the impact that the characters will have on you, thanks to this level of characterisation that we see run throughout the issue, is going to leave you not only impressed but with a desire for more. Evoluzione is a small press publisher that relies heavily on the support of it’s readers, fans and followers through Kickstarter to get these actually published. So if you are enjoying this review and like the artwork I’ve included please do what you can to ensure that we will continue to get this level of storytelling.
The ebb & flow of the book and how revelations and information are brought forth have this way of making the adrenaline start to flow faster, tensions in the shoulders tighten and if your not careful you’ll freak yourself out a bit. It has been so long since a book about monsters and the threat they pose has been done in a way that is genuinely creepy and filled with the kind of suspense that grabs the readers’ attention, imagination and doesn’t let up for a moment. The villains are vile and the heroes are misunderstood and all in all if folks don’t learn how to work with one another then neither side is going to end up with anything in the win column.
The interior artwork here is gorgeous to see. The way that the linework is utilised and how the varying weights can be coaxed into revealing this amazing attention to detail is wonderful to see. The crisp, clean and strong lines that keep the monsters the things of nightmares. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show us this magnificent eye for storytelling. Also being as huge a fan as I am of the way that backgrounds are needed to enhance the moments and expand the size and scope of the story, I couldn’t be any happier than to see them so well represented here. This book has the vision of the future and the past all rolled up in such marvellous ways that it can just guide the readers’ imagination right along with the work. The colour work too is stupendous to see. The muted tones or bright colours that we see are done perfectly to represent what they need to. The neon lights with their fuzzy way of tricking the light in the eye is done to perfection.
Evoluzione is the kind of company I keep telling you to seek out at conventions. Small press companies like this are the wave of the future and it’s where you are going to find the next generation of talent that we cannot life without. And I got news for ya the future is now and this series so gosh darn amazing in how well the level and quality of the storytelling is being done.