Zenescope Entertainment 2016
Written by Lou Iovino
Illustrated by Sergio Arino, Riveiro & Milton Estevam
Coloured by Grostieta & Jorge Cortes
Lettered by Taylor Esposito
With the help of Britney Waters, a.k.a. Red Agent, Robyn takes down an exploitative Highborn trafficking ring operating in the city. But in doing so, she gains a deadly new enemy in Reichhardt Fuchs, the notorious Highborn hunter. Fuchs joins forces with a mysterious woman who harbors a hidden vendetta against Robyn, setting the stage for a revenge-fueled conflict in the Big Apple.
My friends this is the kind of story that we all love to see! Over the years clowns have gone from circus attractions to things of sheer terror and we continue to make people afraid of them with stories like this one. Ever since IT! it seems that clowns have been open season in creating the utmost in childhood terror and what Lou does here takes that and puts the classic Zenescope twist on it.
This is a near perfect one and done issue. From conception to execution this is without a doubt not only a horror lovers dream come true but it’s also one heck of way to advance a story arc. We see more clearly that each encounter is being structured by this mysterious woman who has this massive grudge against Robyn. Each one is meant to test her and the creatures that are involved in building her own army to go up against her. So far it seems only Fuchs is worthy of joining her as she’s been easy to dispatch the rest. Still it’s an interesting way to tie the series together, throwing one test after another at her to see which of them can cause harm and to watch her in action learning her routine, most often used tricks and how to defeat her.
Gotta give a lot of credit to the artists who worked on this issue. The manage to not only start us off with an innocent fun loving clown but then take it to that place where even nightmares are afraid to go. The flow of the book through page layouts with the use of angles, perspective and backgrounds really effectively take us to the city and the brink of terror nicely. The attention to detail here is utterly amazing and the colouring just adds to the whole effect beautifully and make the terror real.
I like seeing Gabby and that she’s the catalyst to Robyn becoming involved here. I’d be interested to learn if that was a setup in itself though. Gabby’s friend Kate saw her brother being abducted and that was purposeful in my opinion so that Robyn would get involved and of course when we’re talking kids it’s something she has to get involved in. Regardless the way Lou structures the story is flawless and it’s presented in a way that makes complete and utter sense. Plus he’s bringing us more Gabby and with her falling out with Marion she needs someone around her to help manage not only the business but who thinks of her as that hero that she is.
This is the Zenescope i’ve been advocating. The smart, intelligent horror stories that rely upon storytelling and less on pinup girls in costumes. It’s also a great way to show the kind of characterisation Lou can do with Robyn. This is a must read book folks!