Image Comics 2017
By Howard Chaykin
Coloured by Jesus Aburtov
Lettered by Ken Bruzenak
A city, devastated A nation, shattered. A people, terrified. And the most hated man in the world...the man who got us here in the first place...is all that stands between us the next attack.
You can love this or hate it but it’s being talked about. That is the goal of any project anyone does to have people talk about it. Howard makes no apologies for whats in here and honestly he doesn’t have to it’s his vision, the way he’s seeing this and how he’s using these people in these situations to make those reading this see how either repulsive, stereotypical or downright misinformed the general population really is. Sure he probably isn’t as altruistic as that but it’s what’s happening isn’t it, though if people would quit attacking, lashing out with their righteous indignation and start discussions that would be more effective in learning why people would like to be seen in a different way.
Let’s be honest for a minute shall we? Stereotypes exist for a reason, because too many see them fall into them and perpetuate them whether meaning to or not. Then there’s those ignorant fools who only see a stereotype whether it’s there or not. So damned if you do damned if you don’t but if you take a hard look at this there isn’t anyone who escapes being raked over the coals. That kind of way too brutal honesty is too much for the masses to handle and it forces people to look at life the way it rather than how they’d like it be.
Personally I think the story is kind of amazing. Villa screwed up, his wife, children and mistress all dead and the President hates him, well the world kind of hates him, the City of New York lies in ruins because of him and well things are still going on that showcase no matter what happens shits going to hit the fan regardless. So now we’re seeing the characters who are in this prison for crimes committed against the very people who Villa is after. These are the folks from last issue who for better or worse were introduced to all the fanfare.
Howard isn’t slowing down here and the interior artwork is incredible to see. I love the way page are composed and the use of the layouts, the angles, perspective and those backgrounds. He utilises the page so fully and it’s gorgeously done. The flow of the work to go with the storytelling itself is nice to see. The whole book is like mini chapters one after another fleshing out the whole thing and it’s remarkably well done.
Villa now has his team and it’s time to strike back against those behind the New York attack and for Villa to fix the mess he’s made. He’ll do that while we watch the rest of the United States fall into the divided states of hysteria taking matters into individual hands making relations the worst they’ve ever been in the totality of our recorded history. Love it or hate it this is the state of the world today and it’s only gonna change if you work smartly and use your voice to educate and not condemn.