Image Comics 2021
Written by Rodney Barnes
Illustrated by Well-Bee
Coloured by Luis NCT
Lettered by Marshall Dillon
“THE FIRE NEXT TIME,” Part Two
Nita Hawes paranormal-hunting Nightmare Blog has gotten its first cry for help, but the case leads to a dead end when the caller is found dismembered with no tangible clues as to what happened. As Nita offers her services to Detective Harden, the demon Corson begins to move his pawn across the board, putting humanity in even more peril with every step forward!
I am a huge fanboy of this series already and if you take on perusal through either issue then you’ll understand why. I raved about Well-Bee’s work on The No-Ones and he just continues to put out some of the finest work the industry is seeing right now. Rodney’s writing is utterly amazing and putting the two together was a stroke of genius as it takes this series from what was always going to be amazing and knocks it out of the stratosphere. This issue has two stories running through it side by side and they have one connection to each other which I’ll leave for you to discover but suffice it to say both have that certain something that makes you want to see more of both.
I love 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 are presented exquisitely. The character development that we see through the narration, the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter does wonders in furthering their personalities. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing more of the story we become transfixed by what we see.
I am very much liking how we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen. I am also liking the way that these layers open up new avenues to be explored. Whether it is the past or present, what we see adds so much depth, dimension and complexity to the story and while there are some moments I desperately want to see more of, if we don’t, well it has already engaged me and my mind to think off the page. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward are immaculately handled.
The interiors here are absolutely breathtaking. The linework is exquisite and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create this level & quality of detail within the work that we see is mindbogglingly brilliant. I would like to see more backgrounds in use as when they are, they enhance and expand the moments perfectly. Though with 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 are impeccably rendered. That pinup page of Henry is so gosh darn good I’d hang that page in my house as legitimate artwork. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a masterful eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work show such a brilliant eye for how colour works.
With all the craziness that is going on around them and how Nita needs to do what she does to keep herself from going crazy, with guilt, grief and despair mind you and how the local cops are at a standstill to understand what’s going on it will be interesting to see just how well the two worlds can be blended together, yes I mean the cops and Nita. With some extraordinary writing and phenomenal characterisation along with these maddeningly mindbogglingly bloody brilliant interiors the Nightmare Blog is an amazing place to be.