Ahoy Comics 2019
On Sale 04/17/19
Written by Paul Constant
Illustrated by Alan Robinson
Coloured by Felipe Sobreiro
Lettered by Rob Steen
Cover by David Nakayama
Three high school jocks in the 1980s are accidentally frozen by an experimental cryogenics device, only to be revived in the tech-driven, superhero-loving, empathy-counselling world of 2019 — in other words, an era shaped by the nerds they once tormented.
Oh my goodness first let me just say that the opening page is set in 1988 the year I graduated from Upper Secondary School. Now I have no idea if life imitates art or vice versa but I do remember the extent of the bullying I had growing up all too well. I say this because is it a stereotype if it’s true or is true because of the stereotype I am all discombobulated by thinking about it. So what does all this really mean, it means I connected with the story and I could relate to the characters and found it to be amazingly well done. This is no upstart company here these are veterans of the industry who know what good storytelling is and needs so with the second wave of books they are bringing everything we love about comics back to us!
The opening here is stellar stuff as the overweight, fashion challenged, comic book reading nerd is beat by what I think of as the steroid raged jock is fantastic. Chad gave me a conniption here, but bonus points for the word usage. I really do like the overall flow of the book and how the story easily draws the reader in and makes them feel at home. There is definitely that sense of familiarity that usually only comes during family gathers or high school reunions that has that uneasy start but by the end your relaxed as all get out, usually thanks to alcohol.
The characterisation here is absolutely perfect. We have our three main characters and two of them are fleshed in such a way that we see the bully leader and then the tag-a-long and the one who is sensitive to others and doesn’t really like the bullying but is afraid to stand up to his friend. Hmm wonder why that would be? This of course is how I see these Three Amigo’s you might find you see them differently and that’s okay. Everything should be open to interpretation by each individual.
I love the interior here. That it looks like it’s done on newsprint, that there are the crazy hair styles, I swear I looked at Jenny I kept thinking Joan Cusak from Working Girl and I loved that. The linework and the way everything is brought to life through the attention to detail that’s created brings me so much joy. There are definitely some throwback nods in the linework and I think we’ve been this level of work in comics today and if you really look at the detail work it is truly amazing how much of it there is and how much time, patience and a steady hand is needed to do this. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show off a sensational eye for storytelling. I love how backgrounds are utilised here so that they expand the moment, improve the characterisation and show a nod of humour to the era. Also the colour work is exceptional as well. How we see colour gradation, shading and shadow use it so darn good.
There is a place for all styles of comics and Ahoy has found a way to simply revitalise comics by going back to basics. Amazing writing and stunning interior artwork that’s what it takes, no tricks, gimmicks or kill em off to bring em back as well as that whole constant rebooting. You’ll find none of that here only creators doing what they do best, telling amazing stories.