Spectress & Sabanion #1
Cagey Comics 2019
Created & Written by Kurt Zauer
Illustrated by Topper Helmers
Coloured by Wesley Wong
Lettered by Wes Locher
On the outskirts of Chicago, Containment Facility-4 (CONFAC-4) masquerades as Grenning Industrial Park and confines evils long forgotten. The scarred and grizzled members of the Moon Crew keep watch in the deepest vaults on the nights of the full moon. Tonight, the full moon shines but something in the air doesn’t feel right. A ghost from the ancient past has come to free one of the most destructive denizens of CONFAC-4: the demon, Sabanion. Aneksi, an ancient Egyptian ghost and once chief vizier to Cleopatra, is determined to find purpose in the world of the living. Bound by fate, Aneksi is forced to free Sabanion from the sub-vaults of CONFAC-4. Can Aneksi’s push back into the realm of the living survive such a ruinous presence? Or can she manipulate the dark secret that binds them to her advantage?
I really do enjoy finding new books to read and review. The way that I look for them is probably different than most folks as I do love perusing the artist alley and main floor looking for those small/self-published folks who have a passion for what they do, also there’s a nice community network out there for books like these as well. So I contacted Kurt and requested to review this as I found the premise and concept intriguing to me. Let’s face it when you deal with ghosts and demons we’re all a bit intrigued but add into the mix Egyptians and Soldiers and the intrigue factor raises exponentially.
The opening here does exactly what it needs to do. We see the origin of Aneksi or at least the origin of her ghost. While we may not technically see how she dies we are left with clues throughout the story and I have to say this is something that engages the reader nicely and has them thinking and exploring the story from an outside the box angle. Any time you can get your readers to think about what transpires beyond the page then I feel as if their skill, talent and ability as a writer is beautifully showcased. So here we get that this is a peak at the series and what’s to come. The way that this is structured is great to see and it uses that ebb & flow to engage the reader as we learn about the story in some very non-traditional ways.
The interiors here fascinate me. I have to tell you that the attention to detail that we are seeing is very well utilised. The linework has a lot of varying weights being showcased and how they come together to coax this nice imagery is impressive. The present feels a little more indie and that’s okay because let’s face it that’s what this is. Some facial work needs tightening up so we’re more easily able to differentiate certain characters. That being said I am still impressed by being able to read the emotions and feelings of these characters. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a nice eye for storytelling. That we see backgrounds utilised as they are excites me as they open up the story and bring a size and scope of their world. The colour work too is nice as we see some excellent use of shadows and shading. I’d like to see some more gradation but it’s solid work.
There is some very nice characterisation going on in these pages as well. What I am really enjoying is seeing how all these characters fit into the story, what’s eluded to which may or may not happen and the promise what’s to come. This is why I love finding unknown books, by unknown creators because you can feel the passion for what they are doing.
This is one I recommend you finding and you can head to https://cageycomics.bigcartel.com/ get yourself a copy and check it out. This fun, exciting and different than anything you are currently reading.
Cagey Comics 2019
Created & Written by Kurt Zauer
Illustrated by Topper Helmers
Coloured by Wesley Wong
Lettered by Wes Locher
On the outskirts of Chicago, Containment Facility-4 (CONFAC-4) masquerades as Grenning Industrial Park and confines evils long forgotten. The scarred and grizzled members of the Moon Crew keep watch in the deepest vaults on the nights of the full moon. Tonight, the full moon shines but something in the air doesn’t feel right. A ghost from the ancient past has come to free one of the most destructive denizens of CONFAC-4: the demon, Sabanion. Aneksi, an ancient Egyptian ghost and once chief vizier to Cleopatra, is determined to find purpose in the world of the living. Bound by fate, Aneksi is forced to free Sabanion from the sub-vaults of CONFAC-4. Can Aneksi’s push back into the realm of the living survive such a ruinous presence? Or can she manipulate the dark secret that binds them to her advantage?
I really do enjoy finding new books to read and review. The way that I look for them is probably different than most folks as I do love perusing the artist alley and main floor looking for those small/self-published folks who have a passion for what they do, also there’s a nice community network out there for books like these as well. So I contacted Kurt and requested to review this as I found the premise and concept intriguing to me. Let’s face it when you deal with ghosts and demons we’re all a bit intrigued but add into the mix Egyptians and Soldiers and the intrigue factor raises exponentially.
The opening here does exactly what it needs to do. We see the origin of Aneksi or at least the origin of her ghost. While we may not technically see how she dies we are left with clues throughout the story and I have to say this is something that engages the reader nicely and has them thinking and exploring the story from an outside the box angle. Any time you can get your readers to think about what transpires beyond the page then I feel as if their skill, talent and ability as a writer is beautifully showcased. So here we get that this is a peak at the series and what’s to come. The way that this is structured is great to see and it uses that ebb & flow to engage the reader as we learn about the story in some very non-traditional ways.
The interiors here fascinate me. I have to tell you that the attention to detail that we are seeing is very well utilised. The linework has a lot of varying weights being showcased and how they come together to coax this nice imagery is impressive. The present feels a little more indie and that’s okay because let’s face it that’s what this is. Some facial work needs tightening up so we’re more easily able to differentiate certain characters. That being said I am still impressed by being able to read the emotions and feelings of these characters. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a nice eye for storytelling. That we see backgrounds utilised as they are excites me as they open up the story and bring a size and scope of their world. The colour work too is nice as we see some excellent use of shadows and shading. I’d like to see some more gradation but it’s solid work.
There is some very nice characterisation going on in these pages as well. What I am really enjoying is seeing how all these characters fit into the story, what’s eluded to which may or may not happen and the promise what’s to come. This is why I love finding unknown books, by unknown creators because you can feel the passion for what they are doing.
This is one I recommend you finding and you can head to https://cageycomics.bigcartel.com/ get yourself a copy and check it out. This fun, exciting and different than anything you are currently reading.
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