Behemoth Entertainment 2021
By Samuel Spano
Allie's dreams continue and the conversations with the dark force occupying them deepen. Chris swings by only for Allie to flip the script on him and test their relationship once again.
This series gets more and more bizarre with each new issue and I love it. Sure there are times I’m not entirely sure what’s going on but that’s okay because it engages my mind as I try to wrap my brain around what is happening trying to make sense of it all. It really is a beautifully crafted series and whether these dark voices are all inside Allie’s head or they really truly exist, I prefer to think of them as a metaphor but who knows I could very well be wrong, it all comes down to his family, his messed up life and expectations placed upon him. He isn’t being given the chance to be who he is and a large part of him resents this whether or not he’s admitting it even to himself. Though we do start to see some of this being called into question thanks to his feelings for Chris. Chris himself is one messed up young man, though I'm not sure how old he actually is. I doubt they are that far apart in age. Regardless, the two make quite the pair trying to figure out their lives together.
I’m a huge fan of the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter does a magnificent job in expanding their personalities. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing more of the story the more we want to know, seriously and a lot surrounds Allie’s mood swings and his dark passenger.
I’m really rather impressed with the way that we see this being structured as well as how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen. I’m also liking the way that these layers open up new avenues to be explored. Whether these new avenues will be explored or not they all add this great depth, dimension and complexity to the story. The way we see everything working together to create the story's ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward are impeccably handled.
The interiors here are a great example of what computer generated art can be. Granted I would like to see more backgrounds in use because they do enhance and expand the moments, however, how we see the composition within the panels bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story is remarkably well achieved. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkably talented eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows a strong understanding of how colour works.
I’m always impressed and in awe of someone who can write and illustrate the entire book. It certainly holds true here because the story is so involved and at times ambiguous to its true nature and yet the way we see every panel of every page exactly as Samuel intends them to be makes for some amazing reading. This love affair we see between the boys has this whole Shakespearean aspect to it in the love and tragedy we see. Damaged characters from different worlds falling in love, it doesn’t get much more romantic actually. With this amazingly complicated writing and intense and complex characterisation alongside these interiors bring to life a modern tragic love story to life.