Tidalwave Productions 2019
Written by Fernando Ilor
Illustrated by Ángel Luis Bernuy Amaro
Coloured by Luis Maria Dumont & Jose Manuel Amaro
Rescued by Aurea's team, the hapless Jot realizes that the contagion that is destroying Spain is bigger and darker than he imagined. Escape may not be an option! To make matters worse, one of the team may be infected. As the fast-moving and malevolent zombies destroy everything in their path, Jot and Aurea form a plan.
Ya know what I like about this book? That it has a different take on the zombie apocalypse and that is hard to do in this day and age. While we have seen a man wake up to find himself in this situation it deviates from there and turns into a different kind of adventure. Jot is interesting and his skill set being computer based doesn’t inspire confidence in the group if they find themselves a base of operations then perhaps he will come in handier than any of them expect. He’s green and pretty much a blank slate so what Fernando has done with him is set up a world of characterisation to explore and that excites me.
The way that this is being told is incredibly nice to see. The story & plot development and the character development that we are seeing here as they weave their way around each other, becoming one and separating and creating a cycle. The way that we see the information dribble forth and how the twists and turns come about through the way that pacing creates the ebb & flow is extraordinary. We get to see the city they are in, their interaction with each other and the dead wandering around so that what happens is while we get a better understanding of them it is just the beginning of this book has to offer.
These folks aren’t useless, they may be abrasive and cranky but they are far from stupid. Military folks and those who are like minded if you’re lucky can keep cool under pressure and have the thinking and planning skills needed to actually survive. Jot is lucky that, while they don’t trust him yet, he’s lucky to have found them and they are bringing him along. I cannot wait to see how the dynamic here keeps changing because it’s already interesting and takes the reader off-script and the more that happens the more I want to see and experience.
The interiors here are pretty darn sharp! I am fan of the linework we see and how the varying weights are utilised to create some extremely nice attention to detail. The faces and the facial expressions that we see and how they such great individuality to them with their different and unique body types make this as inclusive as it would in the real world. This kind of diversity is the kind of stuff that makes it approachable and relatable to. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show off a great eye for storytelling. Also I like the way that backgrounds enhance the moments as well as bringing a size and scope to the book. Plus I like how we see all the buildings and attention to detail in them as it’s too soon to be in a state of disrepair. Also the colours are well utilised also. The muted tones are well done and then of course that sunset changing the colour scheme is gorgeous. I think the way that we see the colours with their various hues and tones in them bring this to life extremely well.
With the story itself and the beginning of the characterisation that we are seeing the potential for this is utterly amazing. That we aren’t seeing a clear cut definition of anything means that it has this more unplanned play it by ear feeling which again is as natural a human response at it gets. This is a very strong book and it is so well done in writing and interior artwork that means this one should the proceeding issues be as strong could make anyone’s end of year list.