Dynamite Entertainment 2020
Written by Anthony Del Col
Illustrated by Joe Eisma
Coloured by Salvatore Aiala
Lettered by Crank!
Teen detectives Frank and Joe Hardy have investigated many crimes in their lives, but nothing that hits this close to home. Their best friend died mysteriously after taking down a major crime organisation. They must put together the clues to uncover the truth about this shocking crime, but the clues lead them to a stunningly unexpected direction!
First of all I am a huge fan of Anthony's writing almost as much as I am a fan of these three teen sleuth's. Them the Bobbsey Twins and The Three Investigators were what I grew up reading, which ultimately led me to comics and the Teen Titans, Legion and New Mutants in particular. So to see this issue and to read it based on the title alone I knew I was going to be in for one hell of a read. What I wasn't prepared for is exactly what this read was actually going to be like. From the get go we see this through a very interesting and unique lens or point of view. All I can say at this point is that there is one surprise after another straight up to the last page.
The way that this is being told is sensational to see. The story & plot development we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is impeccably rendered. The character development we see blows me away, Light Lass powers blow me away, and to see them maintain this throughout and then to be allowed into Joe's personal thoughts this way really did a number on my emotions. The pacing is superb and the way it navigates us through the pages revealing the twists and turns along the way does a number on the mind. Then there is how all this works together to create the books ebb & flow and also highlights the books structure is really well done.
Throughout this whole issue, which I urge you to ensure your store will have this for your when they reopen, I was taken aback many times, many many times as Blanche would say. All I could think of is what was the ramifications of what we were being told were. That my mind is engaged from page one panel one is no small feat my friends and that it's last that way straight up until the last page is even more of a feat. I thought I would be able to handle the emotions of seeing a character so beloved by me being deceased and nope I didn't handle of this well at all. So kudos, Bravissimo and I doth my cap to you all for this.
Now the interiors here from Joe are probably the best thing I have ever seen him do. His signature style is there but somehow the crispness of the linework and the attention to detail through the varying weights feels all the more elevated here. Plus the emotion he is able to provide emitting from the characters and how that makes the reader feel, wow. Also I am digging the way we see backgrounds and how they work within the composition of the panels and provide depth perception, scale and that overall sense of size and scope. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show his magnificent eye for storytelling. The colour work we see is fantastic as well. I love the darker mood tones and yet we see still see the hues and tones within these muted colours create the shading, highlights and shadow work. All around this work is pretty damn impressive.
I have wanted to talk about so much more but given that this isn't out yet as it would've been out on the first I wanted to truly run a spoiler free review. The writing, the layering within the story and how just amazingly well written this is from start to finish has me truly excited for the rest of the run.