Aftershock Comics 2018
Created & Written by Patrick Kindlon
Created & Illustrated by Marco Ferrari
Coloured by Patrizia Comino
Lettered by Jim Campbell
Disregarded, disrespected and dismissed, Renny has a chip on his shoulder. Once an equal partner in a criminal syndicate that rules Las Vegas, he now finds himself living in a shack in the desert. But the shack has a workshop, and Renny's been busy. It’s time to march his robot army into the neon hell of a cyberpunk Vegas and retake his seat at the table. Or take the wood from the table and build enough caskets for the whole syndicate. Old friends better run, because Operation PATIENCE! CONVICTION! REVENGE! is underway.
I found this to be rather interesting for a number of reasons but most of all because of this whole steampunk aspect. It doesn’t feel like this is a normal progression of any Steampunk world that I have seen in the past instead it feels more like the rise of Steampunk after some kind of tragedy suffered in the world. Like this is their attempt at reclaiming society and they don’t have the exact same technology they had before and have had to improvise using steam as a primary source of power. I could totally be seeing/reading this wrong and if so that’s okay because mainly it is how the reader sees it and connects to it that matters.
The opening is nicely done it’s just enough to paint a picture of the desert outside Las Vegas as the desolate wasteland that it is. Also the colouring and the dialogue that we get is so well suited for the location and premise behind what we’re seeing that in all honesty captures the imagination of the reader vividly. Aftershock continues to be a go to company for me when it comes to choosing not only new series to read but to stay with for the long-term.
Seriously what happens in the desert has possibly friend Renny’s brain beyond repair but that hasn’t been able to diminish what he can do with electronics. He built himself an army of damn robots and his bestie type is Robot Paul who as you will learn might just play a different role in all this than anyone possibly expects. At least I am hoping because the idea I have in my head is one that I would dearly love to see play out in some way, shape or form.
The interiors here are pretty damn spectacular as Marco and Patrizia pull out all the stops on the work we see. The attention to detail here is incredible and the manipulation of the varying weights of linework are used to create such beautiful moments as well as making the backgrounds make come to life. The utilisation of page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows off such a great eye for storytelling. The imagination and creativity on display here make the interiors feel like they could go up against Howl’s Moving Castle. The colours depending on where in the story it takes place really do emulate the atmosphere of that location and I gotta say combine that with the linework and wow.
The way the book is structured and how we are given the information about Renny, this world and how he got to where he is done stupendously. Also while Renny is kind of hot and Brell is no slouch either and the man we meet in Las Vegas well I cannot wait to learn about him. So far everyone we meet has some great characterisation and are explored perfectly in context with Renny, his life and where he’s headed.
With a strong premise, amazing writing and some stunning interiors this is going to make say Westworld what’s that?