Caliber Comics 2017
Written by Massimo Rosi
Illustrated by Paskal Millet
MORNING STAR is a unique agency financed by the Vatican to protect the human world and hunt supernatural creatures that use their paranormal powers for evil purposes. It is an organization base around the world that has existed from centuries, ever since the last of the Knights Templar disappeared. But over the years things have changed, the individuals within the Church funding the group have become less devoted to religion, and increasing sceptical to the cause of killing paranormal evil creatures. Which can have dire circumstances for the world.
I know how we all like to compare things or ask what’s it like and you try to describe it to them and that’s what I’m going to attempt here. So think Mission Impossible with shades of Tomb Raider and a touch of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. So basically the group consists of those with and without abilities there are godly artefacts, creatures and such risen from the depths all going on in these pages. I like it cause it feels like something new, fresh and different. There’s no real religious preaching going on here so while this is Vatican financed it doesn’t play that a big role here.
Massimo has been really impressing me with these books of his. He has this really good understanding of how to use the structure of the book to create this ebb & flow where we are constantly being introduced to new characters and situation. This includes the characterisation he brings us as well it’s solid work where actions and dialogue start to scratch the surface of the individuals. We get just enough here to make the reader wonder more about them and that is a great thing to feel as it ensures your return for the next issue.
The opening for this issue is all kinds of wow. The introduction of Big Jaws who as a member of the team is found in what I would consider the most unlikely of places. However what we see makes him the most intriguing member in my humble opinion. The excitement doesn’t stop there as the focus shifts to Olga followed by Trevor. It is like a roller coaster that starts off with amazing drops, loops and tunnels before you have to go back up to do it all over again.
Paskal has a nice style to his work and it feels like it’s got a number of familiar elements to it but in the end it’s all his own. While seeming simple it has some nice attention to detail and the linework varies in weight when need be. He gets this phenomenal opportunity to really unleash his creativity and imagination in some of the creatures and effects that we see here and I love that. The way he uses page layouts so we get these angles and perspective in the panels shows a very strong eye for storytelling. Also I love to see the utilisation of backgrounds and he does that here so well that it expands the scene, moment and gives us a great sense of the scope of where they are and the story in general.
So how Massimo is able to weave the Trevor part of the story into the book and make it the focus and ramping up the intrigue factor is marvellous to see. I mean the more we see him the more we want to see more because what is doing and those surrounding him capture the imagination of the reader beautifully. There’s something wondrous about the way he’s able to bring about what could be the end of the world and doing without most of the world even realising it.
I find that the assembled team is being more reactionary to what’s happening, gathering information before taking action which is not a bad thing unless their foe happens to have what Trevor does and they know it. Can’t wait to see what happens next as the team is finally on the ground trying to find something, anything to help them.
Once again proof that you need to be on the lookout for books like this one that have strong writing, solid interior artwork that come from smaller press companies. Break out of that “Big 2” mentality and see what the world has to offer!