Scout Comics 2018
Written & Created by Richard Emms
Illustrated by Randy Green with Ale Garza
Coloured by Oracle
Delving deeper into the underworld of New Camden, Kiri discovers that her confidant, a man calling himself Zero-One, has more than his fair share of inner demons and introduces her to Operation Dawn, a team of battled scarred degenerates, who live for danger after being 'exposed' by the Corporation.
The pluses and minuses of small press companies is that at times they need to hit the Kickstarter circuit too. So it’s been a hot minute since we’ve see the last issue of this series but I think I am okay with the wait considering how much I am enjoying the story. Also this is one of those books where as soon as you pick it up and look at it the previous issues flood back and it’s like no time at all has past. I love books like this because sometimes delays are inevitable but when it’s good it’s good enough to wait for and when it’s this good you remember the full story and don’t have to go back and re-read the previous issues.
I like the way that this is being structured. That during the arc we see events happen in real time instead of jumping around to later and having to backtrack the story is the way things should be. It should be like watching a soap opera where every issue picks up where the previous left off. And yes that’s as unrealistic in comics as it is in soaps but this way while it may only be 12 days in the year that’s okay (it is also how the characters never age) because they can do more in a year that we’ll dream of being able to.
The characterisation here is pretty darn interesting. The more we see the characters the more we see them act, interact and react to situations which does as much for fleshing them out as does the dialogue we see. There is so much here to enjoy and last issue we were introduced to new characters and I think the way that’s been weeded down is nicely done. Sometimes an army isn’t what’s needed instead just a small group is all it takes to topple someone. I think that we are seeing what is going to be a strong group of people working together as we look towards the future.
The art team on the interiors here is doing some stellar work here. In a book like this the colour work is just as important if not more so than usual. The futuristic setting with all the technology, gadgets and gear mean that lights, colours and such are going to play such an important role in how we view this and what that accomplishes here is blowing me away. The attention to detail that we’re seeing is something that I love to see. Right off the bat the brickwork of the building, the way that head well explodes and all the small touches that most for granted I see here and that’s what really makes this stand out. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show this amazing eye for storytelling. The way backgrounds are utilised here is fantastic and helps to really enhance the moments while also providing a great sense of size and scope to the story.
Richard really has layered this story with different factions all at play simultaneously and what that does is make the reader try to put the pieces together somehow. So we’re actively using our own imaginations to make sense of what is going on which in turn means we need to come back and see if we’re even in the ballpark. The interactiveness between story and reader is something that every writer should aspire to and it happens here with some marvellous results.