Aftershock Comics 2021
Written by Evan Daugherty
Illustrated by Federico Dallocchio
Coloured by Valentina Bianconi
Lettered by Dave Sharpe
The swashbucklers take to the high seas and D’Artagnan is grudgingly forced to play captain to his motley crew of sword-masters.
They must all hold fast if they have any hope of braving pirate-infested waters, storming the literal Bastille and rescuing the Man in the Iron Mask, a mysterious prisoner who apparently plays a key role in Cardinal Richelieu’s grand plan.
There really are few stories like historical fiction to really capture the readers’ mind, imagination and creativity. I mean these are all characters who existed throughout time though usually in works of fiction or are based loosely off real people. That Evan has brought them all together in this story to face off against Cardinal Richelieu, who himself is a real person, in such a way that makes complete and perfect sense is phenomenal. Also that we finally see all the players in this little drama finally coming together is fantastic. Evan took his time to let the characters come together organically, see not rushed or feeling like it’s forced upon us, which means that the story takes on a bigger impact when it comes to seeing how this is being told.
I find myself being enamoured with the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter brings them to life extraordinarily well. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing the seventh and final member of the team the story gets under way in earnest.
How we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen is magnificent to see. I also really like seeing the Man in the Iron Mask and who Evan has chosen this character is going to be, after all his true identity was never revealed and while he is believed to have existed that’s all that’s known about him. How all of this works to add depth, dimension and complexity to the story is wonderfully rendered. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is perfectly achieved.
The interiors here are mindbogglingly gorgeous! From the characters to the backgrounds, what we see fleshes everything out in some truly superb ways. The mood, tone and feel of the work really sets the stage for the book and it is like a dream come true. The linework is exquisite and how the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create this level & quality in the attention to detail that we see leaves me gobsmacked. How the backgrounds enhance and expand the moments as well as work within the composition of the panels to bring about the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story is magnificent to see. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a masterful eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading highlights and shadow work show a master colourist at work.
How we see the flow and the clip at which this story reads is truly astonishing. It feels like you read it so very quickly but with a normal page count it really just reads like every other book it only feels like there’s a lot of information being thrown at you and that as a reader you devour it. There is some absolutely stunning writing and characterisation that’s surrounded by these mind blowing interiors that conspire to create one of what could be history's greatest challenge.