Ahoy Comics 2019
Written by Paul Constant
Illustrated by Alan Robinson
Coloured by Felipe Sobreiro
Lettered by Rob Steen
The angry, thawed-out jocks from the 80s search the world of 2019 for the nerd who froze them. But how do you find anyone when telephone books and pay phones are extinct? PLUS! Back in the 80s, bully Chad tries endlessly to placate his dad, who's an even bigger bully. EXTRAS! AHOY's usual prose stories and features, beautifully illustrated.
Oh opening pages are so important as they capture the readers’ attention straight away and make them want to see more. This one has everything too, we’ve got Alvin and his company talking about cryogenics and then we get a surprise and it’s a surprise to us as well because what happens we don’t get to see the person who makes a great proclamation. It really does grab your attention and the fact that the scuffle the boys had at the comic book convention made the local news is even better it made me laugh out. Why because I was a teenager in the 80’s and you’d never hear the words Comic Convention on the news and now it’s a common part of our vernacular. I love that and to see how far, and how little, we’ve progressed is something Paul spotlights very well.
So next up we get to see boys for a bit. The characterisation is utterly phenomenal and while Chad is the de-facto leader it’s only because the others let him by not standing up to him like they should. We all know his type and some of us have faced off against him in High School and we all know how they turned out. Though there is one kid I went to school with who fits this bill and never changed which is why he has no friends whatsoever. It’s a little bit funny, that feeling inside I’m not one of those who easily hides, that the boys have no clue as to how to approach Alvin. If I am going to be hones though it really is more fun to see Chad flounder about like a chicken with his head cut off.
Oh the interiors here are absolutely lovely. There are these little things that remain consistent throughout that really do make a difference. We as readers’ don’t always think about those until they disappear and so that this is so well done that the flow we see is fantastic. The attention to detail in the varying weights of the linework are spectacular and rather impressive in how strong a hand Paul has. Also I really like the way we see the composition in the panels and how backgrounds are utilised to really flesh out moments and bring us this sense of size and scope as the boys see the future.
The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show off a stupendous eye for storytelling. The colour work is marvellous. This has a throwback feel to it where we see solid colours which then utilised blocking to create shading and it brings this feeling of familiarity and excitement to what I am seeing. Oh yeah and there are some very nice uses of cross-hatching too so kudos on making this as visually interesting and stunning as the writing is.
The way we see the story & plot development with the pacing and character development all woven together so expertly makes this a pure joy to read. The ebb & flow of the story as we learn what we need to is why I am here. Ahoy proves that they are here to stay and have a commitment to put out some of the highest grade in level and quality of work. With the interiors to match the writing in terms of quality and skill just hammers that point home for me. This is the kind of storytelling we’ve lost somewhere along the way to so-called progress and personally I would rather have this.