Aspen Comics 2018
Created & Story by J.T. Krul, Dinna Wu & Yuyan Song
Written by J.T. Krul
Pencilled by Alex Konat
Inked by Mark Roslan
Coloured by John Starr
Lettered by Sal Cipriano
In the future, technology continues to dominate every aspect of civilization, and nowhere is it more on display than the city of New Sheng, a vast metropolis where those with means live high amongst the lights and those without wallow in the shadows below. In his desperate struggle to reach a better life, a young fighter named Zihao has sacrificed his body in the ring and now prepares to pay an even bigger price in order to battle in the main arena with the elite cybernetically-enhanced warriors. But will seeing another lost soul from his past make his climb easier or harder?
There is something about this that I really like. Aside from the future aspect and that at times I was pulled into the Altered Carbon universe this has that science fiction feel to that just captures the imagination and makes the mind swirl. I think that the upper and lower folks have such disparity, if you aren’t rich your poor there seems to be no middle class and the few rule the masses and while that type of future setting seems to be the most popular it still puts you into a mindset that isn’t always pleasant. That I am saying this means that J.T.’s story has already pulled me into this world and that the skill and ability he has is just that good.
Love the way that this book is structured and J.T. really knows his stuff. The opening is dynamic, flashy and extremely eye catching this draws the reader in immediately and makes me want to know more about this world. If there is one thing that I think Aspen does better than anyone else is the attention their artists have to the entire world and not just the characters because the architecture in these buildings is utter spectacular.
I like the narration as the person doing it brings us on this tour from a unique point of view. One that incorporates that feeling they are of a lower caste, see poor people, who isn’t afraid of saying it like it is regarding both. When we finally get to meet the person who has been narrating well it starts to make more sense. Also this young man is instantly likeable and it’s also unexplainable as to why he just exudes something that makes you want to watch him and see what he does and to succeed. This I attribute to J.T. and the work on the narration as well as the dialogue that comes after meeting him.
The interior artwork here is stunning! Alex, Mark and John do some absolutely amazing work here and I love how much attention to detail there is. The linework here is sensational and how it has been manipulated through varying weights to create these bold lines that live alongside the subtlety to create the entirety of what we need to see. The utilisation of page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows such a great eye for storytelling. How backgrounds are utilised expands the story, the world and creates its own characterisation that incorporates this city as a character unto itself. Plus the colours here that make moments, people, buildings you name it and it pops and again there is some wonderful boldness and softness to how it’s done.
Zihao is an interesting character and his complexity is already more intriguing that I had anticipated. This is the kind of first issue that we live for as a reader, it has the perfect introduction to the series in every capacity. Extremely well written and gorgeously illustrated this is science fiction in it’s most classic iteration.