Image Comics 2019
Story by Tony Pires & Curt Pires
Written & Edits by Curt Pires
Illustrated by Alex Diotto
Coloured by Dee Cunniffe
Lettered by Micah Myers
DOUBLE-SIZED FIRST ISSUE!
Elon is a latchkey kid who spends his days alone reading comic books—until his favourite superhero, Olympian, comes crashing off the page and into reality! But as he nurses his wounded and delirious hero back to health, he discovers Olympian isn’t the only thing that came through… something evil followed him.
Never judge a book by it's cover has never been more true than it is here. However this is from the man who brought us WYRD which is one of my favourite books ever so I had to read it. Once you do you realise how the opening which goes into the main story work together. Kudos too to Alex and Dee for the duality of the work we see because damn it looks amazing. This is a completely different kind of book then what I am used to seeing and for that I am thankful and it also shows the range of talent and ability that Curt has. With each new story of his I write I think I become that much enamoured with him.
Love the way this is being told as the sequence of events unfold and how the reader is given information shows off the story & development beautifully. The character development is sensational and there is so much more to it than the dialogue. The actions we see and the unspoken stuff or things that Elon goes through speak incredibly loudly to who this young man is and to be able to see this in this way blows me away. The pacing is marvellous and how we see the twists & turns the story takes and how everything creates this really strong ebb & flow to the story is so well done.
I love the idea of this story. We have seen it before but I don't know if it has ever been done anywhere near the way we see this. It has these parts that are humours, endearing, cringe worthy and horrific it crosses the entire range of known emotions and all in this single, okay oversized, issue. If you do not fall in love with this book after reading this issue then you have massive problems heh. I wasn't expecting this kind of gut punch that almost drains you emotionally.
The work on the interiors here really is extraordinary. The two different styles we see were fantastic and it almost looks two different artists did them. However the way we see Alex's eye for storytelling and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels was the only link that worked between them. The linework here is dynamic to say the least. The way we see the varying weights being utilised to spotlight the attention to detail is marvellous to see. The way the composition inside the panels is done we see this amazing sense of depth perception and scale. With the backgrounds being so prolific and so important to the story makes the feeling come through even stronger. I love Dee and the work he does. He is one of those colourists that I am always in awe of and this is why, whether it's daytime or night time, in school it doesn't matter the mood, tone and feel he creates with the colours and the shading is always spot on. He's more of a colour blocker than gradation and what he does just finds a way to be exciting and fresh.
This oversized first issue was a brilliant thing to do. It really allows the reader to get that perfect understanding of what the story is. Granted as a reader we're hardly ever right in our assumptions but to see what this young man goes through on a daily basis and he's still willing to help this giant of a man who fell the sky shows the measure of the man he is. I was a little emotional with the locker scene since I never got pushed, I would have kicked some ass and they knew it, but I heard that word in the hallways all the way through high school so I relate to that.
This is an engaging, endearing and emotionally charged book that will give each reader their own experience. That uniqueness and how this story is being told is pretty brilliantly done and the way the art plays off of the words and how they all connect together makes this one of the most intriguing books you'll read.