Scout Comics 2019
Created, Written & Illustrated by
Joseph Schmalke & Rich Woodall
The Electric Black, a cursed antique shop, appearing in any time or space, soliciting customers it hungers to corrupt or devour. Michael Cloven, leader of a misguided Satanic cult, summons The Electric Black to a cemetery in present-day New Orleans. Cloven seeks the Black Ledger, an unholy tome that will grant them god-like powers. Little do they know, the sinister curiosity shop has a will of its own and doesn't like uninvited guests. Proprietor Julius Black and his employees, June Bug and Jack, unleash the shop's horrors upon the cult members in a night they will not live to regret!
First I want one of those Black Sweatshirts, I guess it's called a hoodie nowadays.
We always say that the opening is what grabs the readers' attention so that they want to know what this all about. Well this certainly fits that bill and then some. Well I will say this it really is the dialogue among the kids here that make this what it is. You can tell they are teenagers and that some are into this while others are more tag-along types, either way they liven this up in ways that make me laugh.
The way that the story & plot development we see with the sequence of events and how information is released shows some darn fine writing chops. The way that this is structured is amazing and I like how we see things happen which directly affect them in weird ways. Of course the character development that we see is sublime as these kids are easily understood and we get that immediate knowledge of who they are. With the pacing that we see here highlights the twists and turns creating this ebb & flow that more electrifying than it is scary but that's okay it's all about that antici...........pation.
I really appreciate the way that this book is being written. There is a twisted sense of fun and enjoyment that we get with this. The attitude of the kids leader, Mike, is really done in a such way that it is easy to see the entitlement and idealism of how today's youth are portrayed. On the opposite side of that coin Julius has never been so alive to me. He may be condescending but then again he is the proprietor and humble servant of this emporium of wonders and well he does demand a certain amount of respect. The two play off each other like that meme that's currently going around, “Okay Boomer!”
The interiors here are so interesting. There is a style that we see which is so recognisable and undeniable to this series. There are some truly spectacular moments that we see here like in the ceiling, the walls (wallpaper) or in the carpet and how the latter fades into darkness it is just so attention grabbing. The linework is fantastic and the way it brings out the attention to detail is so well done and from the faces, body language, types and ethnicities to seeing a partially peeled face everything is so well conceived. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a talented eye for storytelling. The backgrounds we see do a lot to enhance the moments and bring a nice sense of size and scope to the book. The creativity and imagination that we see is marvellous and really inspired. The colour work here is beyond expectations, whether it's in the backgrounds used or not we see such bold decision. That yellow and how we see the hues and tones in that or the purple it just makes such a great impression on the reader. As a matter of fact I love the way that the base colour is utilised to show shading and shadows.
This is kind of an odd series because it's creepy as all get out but it's not the scary kind though it possibly should be. There really is an electrifying way this being done and conveyed and rendered. It is dark and much like The Addams Family or the Munsters it's more curiosity and foreboding mixed with this black humour which seeps into your bones and you enjoy the hell out of it.