Aftershock Comics 2016
Created & Written by David Hine
Illustrated by Alberto Ponticelli
Coloured by John Kalisz
Lettered by Comicraft’s Jimmy Betancourt
What an interesting first issue this turned out to be. We open with a nightmare and it’s a good one too, a man in a rubber style suit who is obviously disturbed and crazy like out of a Saw or Hellraiser movie. Very quickly we learn the man having the nightmare is Ray Pilgrim and he owns a rare book store. He’s also set up by a reporter and his buddy using a camera phone so there’s a whole back story here regarding his past that is immediately brought to light. What this does is bring the interest factor to the forefront as it effectively makes the reader want to know what happened.
Alberto and John’s interiors are spectacular. I love the way the interior of the bookstore gives off that organized chaotic look. As a matter of fact throughout the entire issue the way the pages and panels are laid out really showcase some great talent and a knack for knowing what’s going to impact the reader the most when seeing the pages. Plus Ray’s kind of a looker in this weird washed-up kind of way, then there’s something else we see that needs to be seen as it’s kind of important to what Ray can do.
We get to meet Ray’s daughter this issue as well. She’s pretty much a chip off the old block too, not just looks wise either. Toni’s a firecracker and I like her, sure her mother has a restraining order so her father can’t see her but that doesn’t stop her from seeing him. Now i’m not sure if she’s psychic but she’s certainly tenacious and driven to out bad guys and bring them crashing down.
I have to say when we do get to see a bit of Ray’s background it surely wasn’t what I was expecting but it was damn good nonetheless. How that ties into what his daughter has brought to his attention or what the reporter wanted to know about remains a mystery. One that will unfold for us as the series progresses and I must admit i’m looking forward to it. I mean with the way Ray is able to see things and with his daughters unrelenting passion well it promises to be one of those unique thrill rides with surprises around every corner.
David really went all out with this one. The juxtaposition of the then and now storytelling was extremely well handled and was almost confusing. That however is a good thing to me as it raises a lot of questions that i’m now dying to have answered. Nothing is given here in a clean cut kind of way other than with getting to know these characters through the characterization. Obviously something traumatic happened in Ray’s past and it ruined his relationship with Toni’s mother so there’s that. Then there’s his sullen downtrodden kind of moodiness that just intrigues the reader.
This is another stellar addition to Aftershock’s line-up of books.