Mad Cave Studios 2019
Written by Ben Goldsmith
Pencilled by Travis Mercer
Inked by Miguel Angel Zapata
Coloured by Maria Santaolalla
Lettered by Justin Birch
Former assassin Velveteen is on the run from the Order of the 9, the organisation that took her from her family and forced her into a life where all she knows is secrecy, violence, and death. Now, after years of running, she is bringing the fight to them. With help from an American hacker, Jasper, and a rookie officer with an attitude, Inspector Pazzi, Velveteen will use everything she was taught by the Order of the 9 against them.
Alright colour me intrigued here. I like the idea, the premise of what we're seeing. The opening is certainly an eye catcher and leads us to want to see and know more. The entire opening is beautifully done and the way the words, meaning and actions are all conveyed through the visuals so perfectly. That we are able to see and feel the weight of the situation without even knowing what is going on yet is spectacular. I am really impressed what we see and what's conveyed and those strawberries wow.
There are two openings if you will and the second one is interesting and disturbing. The disturbing comes later but for now we'll talk about how nice it is to see this occur and feel there is a mystery behind the event. Plus this dreaded Hilton/Kardashian hybrid plastic bitch with no culture yeah oh I love seeing these types portrayed because they always seem to be on the arm of someone with money and influence and I am spending too much time on her. Still you see the fact that I think this way means the work that Ben is doing on the writing and the story is just that damn good. The reader becomes engaged at some part or another by what they see or read and there is no point of return.
The way that this is being told is extremely nice to see as the story & plot development and how we see the sequence of events unfold as well as how the information is revealed. We get a pretty nice view of the overall gist of what's happening leaving the reason why out of it for now. The character development here is nice to see. We get a sense for who the characters are but that's about it so these folks are almost blank slates with pasts to explore and what we see is what draws us to them and makes us want to know them better. When you add the pacing to the book we see how the twists and turns unfold bringing us this interesting ebb & flow that takes through this interesting story.
Let's chat about the interiors for a moment shall we. I have one major complaint here and that's at some point, maybe that hybrid woman I mentioned earlier, the hair looks stupid, it's in shapes that don't exist EVER it just look like a bad rendering of 90's Image work. Work on my making this part your own style Travis and not some cheap looking knock-off. We didn't see it in the opening but anyone with longer hair yikes. They look like plastic wigs you need different definition to it and try to give a more natural flow instead of seeing it in wind where there is none.
Otherwise the body proportions are great and the linework is strong. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a decent eye for storytelling. I really like that we see backgrounds being utilised so much and how they enhance the moments and bring a size and scope to the book. The attention to detail is really nice to see as well and combined with the backgrounds and the creativity and imagination makes for a delightful time. The colour work here is phenomenal. I am enjoying how we see a base colour and the various tones and hues within it to create shading and shadows.
With a few tweaks to the artwork and Travis finding HIS style and this is a top ten read. The story is great the writing is sensational and the way it engages the reader as they become invested into the book is so well done. I am excited to see how the creative team continues to grow and evolve as the story unfolds.