American Mythology Productions 2020
Written by Mike Wolfer
Illustrated by Roy Allan Martinez
Coloured by Periya Pillai
Lettered by Natalie Jane
On the trail of the creature known as Number 13, Townsend Harper Jr. and Victoria Maxon are unaware that there are terrors beyond imagining lurking on the steamy, South Pacific island that the artificially-created monster calls home. But is the biggest threat to their survival the monster for which they've searched, or could it be the denizens of a secret, scientific compound hidden in the island's jungle, where the mad experiments of Virginia's father have been revived by others with less than moral goals?
I love that Mike has such a passion for ERB as keeps everything he does as true to the source material as humanly possible. Which is amazing to me but it’s also incredibly thrilling to read. This book also has kind of everything going on and those that have come back to the Island haven’t a clue what is occurring on the other side of the Island. I also believe they have no idea what those in the cells are actually capable of and are doing. Ask Virginia she’ll tell you all about that. I love how we see so many elements that would normally be fighting against each other being masterfully blended.
I really am impressed with the way that this is being told. The story & plot development we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented beautifully. How we see the utilisation of misdirection here is sensational and then while we see something it starts the mind working and the reader becomes engaged. It is the kind of moment when you realise how well everything here is being done. The character development is interesting and while some of it is highly predictable that’s okay really because it just means that we recognise the characters portrayed within these pages. The pacing is spot on and as it takes us through the pages revealing the twists & turns along the way it’s easy to see just how well everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow.
How the book is structured is really nice to see and it allows for the flow to feel natural and not rushed or feeling as if something is forced. Mike is as talented a writer as he is an artist and to be able to read this and see the passion he has for the subject matter is wonderful.
The interiors here are utterly gorgeous. The linework we see is exceptional and how the varying weights are being utilised to bring us some amazing detail work is really rather quite impressive. The fact that we see backgrounds utilised as we do showcases the Island as it’s own character and really expands the danger that surrounds them. It also provides us with some stellar depth perception, scale and that overall sense of size and scope of the story. All of which is superbly impressive and that the night sky shows the stars so every aspect is truly utilised. 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 absolutely gorgeous and how we see the various hues and tones within the colours utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is exceptionally well rendered.
This is one of those series that you can read whether you’re familiar with the source material or not. It is very much a stand alone or new reader friendly book and at the same time it’s also a perfect compliment to what has come before. American Mythology has some extremely high quality books with a high level of talent and if you aren’t reading this then you really ought to be.