Image Comics 2017
Written by Ram V
Illustrated by Devmalya Pramanik
Coloured by Dearbhla Kelly
Lettered by Aditya Bidikar
Jack Kryznan has set out for Paradiso, the sentient city that dominates what is left of the world after the Midnight. He, like so many others, has been drawn there by a yearning, a burning need. Yet while those others are looking for some kind of future, Jack is after something else. Buried in his past is a question that has haunted him, and he knows in his soul that the answer he seeks lies in the city that lives… When one good deed at the Aquarius checkpoint sets in motion a chain of events that cannot be stopped, Jack soon discovers that no one goes into Paradiso unnoticed, and no one goes in alone... whether they know it, or not.
First of all who doesn’t love a life after the fall of man stories? Seeing what direction the author wants to take and in this case it’s using cities that are dilapidated and we’ve gone from technologically savvy to scavengers just trying to get by. There are elements of the old world present as if they aren’t too far removed from it or they’ve managed to come further back than I’d imagined either way the setting for this is beautifully done. I have to hand it to everyone who works on this book for making each part feels so cohesive that it’s all done by one man.
In this day and age you need to have something to stand out from the crowd if you want it to get noticed. Ram has found just that here and with the interior artwork to go along with it to create something we want to see and read. While things seem to come in trends and others never seem to go out of style so there is always a place for a post apocalyptic style story. I will say the opening of this issue is a great way to set the stage for how we got to the present. It’s just enough for the reader to get a glimpse and to understand the parameters of how it all happened. Also it wouldn’t surprise me if it were also the reason why Jack can do what he can.
Another thing that happens in this issue is we expand the cast greatly. Suddenly there are parts of the city that we see opened up to us parts of this world that are unexpected. The way that Ram is able to weave in different arcs into one another so the flow or transitions as smooth as silk is damn impressive. The pacing here is excellent and I cannot get over just how well Ram is taking us on this journey. The characterisation is exceptional and the new folks we see are being explored nicely and give us an opportunity to get to know enough about them so that we want to know more.
Devmalya has one hell of a strong eye for storytelling. The way page layouts are used and how see angles and perspective in the panels showcase that eye. The attention to detail here is phenomenal and the style he creates is uniquely his. The utilisation of backgrounds here makes me one incredibly happy camper as they really do expand the scene, portray the scope of where they are and bring us the kind of mood needed to feel what the characters do.
Heroes, villains, hunters and prey not to mention some incredibly interesting effects thanks to the Event. We are introduced to a world that as we see more bits and pieces of it we want to explore it further. Okay so yes Jack is someone special and what he can do is sought after for various reasons but all he wants is to find a place to call home and he thinks that’s in Paradiso heaven or paradise if you will but remember “be careful what you wish for…...”