Aftershock Comics 2019
Written by Phil Hester
Illustrated by Ryan Kelly
Coloured by Dee Cunniffe
Lettered by Simon Bowland
Our planet is actually a prison designed to both trap and shelter an amnesiac alien entity of incalculable power. Now known as Michael Grey, this cosmic angel of destruction currently believes himself to be an ordinary, Midwestern insurance underwriter, who belongs to a global secret society dedicated to making sure he never discovers the truth about his past. To make matters worse, our hero has fallen in love with Michael Grey. And for their love to be born, Earth must die.
Good golly miss Molly, actually I'd take some Molly with this because wow. There are few guarantees in life but this is Aftershock and then add into the mix these creators, all of whom are insanely talented, and it is a guarantee. I love going into books blind though it’s also why I try my darnedest to keep my reviews spoiler free. The opening for this issue is a great example of why I so enjoy Phil’s writing as it’s dynamic, interesting and expertly piques the readers curiosity in ways that really make us want to see and learn more.
The way this is structured is sensational. The way the opening leads into the next segment of the story is transitioned beautifully. So suddenly the book kind of takes shape and things begin to get even more weird than I thought we’d be getting. I say that because well I feel like I walked into the middle of the film and right at a good part but I have entirely missed the backstory. Mind you this isn’t a bad thing as ya know it does start to make the reader wonder, their minds work and ignite their imaginations in such a stellar way. Now I have my own theories and I want to know more and that has again given a guarantee that I am coming back for more so I can see and learn what the hell is going on.
There is also some really good characterisation going on here as well. There are a few type A personalities and plenty that fill out the rest of the spectrum not to mention a few who wish they were as bad-ass they front themselves to be. The blend and mix of people that we see is amazing and honestly I think that how we see them all here is like a hodgepodge when in reality it’s more like a 3-D Chess, thank you Star Trek. These have been strategically placed at key points so that the we meet them as the story needs us to.
Big fan of Ryan’s here. The way that he’s able to utilise the linework here to create this level of attention to detail to bring out the features of people, see faces because that’s the hardest feature in my opinion, as well all the backgrounds that we see is superb. While the overall sensation is one of pure comic book goodness there is no escaping the level of the quality of work that we’re seeing here it’s just magnificent. There are also plenty of opportunities for us to see this creativity and imagination to shine brightly. Then there is the utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows off a stupendous eye for storytelling. I mentioned the backgrounds earlier but they along with the colour work really flesh the story out and bring us this sense of size and scope to the book.
As far as first issues go this one is a great example of how you want to start off a new series. It is superbly written with it’s story & plot development, pacing and characterisation and these sensationally wonderful interiors make for one of the most dynamic of first issues around. Aftershock came onto the scene with a quiet bang and has steadily been putting out books that just don’t miss.