inZane Comics 2018
Written & Lettered by Zain Shenwari
Illustrated by Luke Horsman
The Elemental Balance is a story about 4 individuals from around the world who gain the powers of the Elements. They are known as the Elementals. They don’t know how or why they got these powers, but they all died from a natural disaster caused by the Element's energy they harness. The story follows their journey of finding one another in hopes of unravelling the truth behind their powers and its connection to their resurrection. Instead, they discover that they're being hunted by a mysterious force!
Part of the joy of reviewing books is when people send me their books and I have no idea who they are or what they do. It is that surprise moment when you feel like you’ve discovered something fantastic, only they discovered you and I am okay with that. Is this the most polished book out there, no but then again who was when they started out with their first books? I mean lets face it folks Scott Snyder wasn’t “Scott Snyder” when he started out, it took work for him to get to where he is now. I see this as having the same potential given the right circumstances.
I like the opening here and I really am impressed with how it bleeds into the next segment. I do have a question though if the Chemistry Museum is in Switzerland why is everyone speaking English? Regardless this is our first look at Chloe and her boyfriend Vijay. Now I really like the dynamic between these two and it’s clearly obvious that he’s in love with her and with everything that happens here I hope my thoughts about him being involved as the series continues is correct. Now this brings me to a point and that’s the characterisation, which by the way I find incredibly strong. If Chloe and Vijay can make that much of an impression in one issue then there’s some really strong talent and skill going on here.
To go along with this stellar characterisation comes some impressive pacing as well. The entire flow of the book is really rather impressive as I mentioned earlier. Zain really manages to get the reader involved in the story rather quickly and before you realise it you’ve hit the last page. So yeah I think the pacing is excellent and add into that some serious story & plot development and you can see the passion, drive and determination of Zain’s feelings writing this book.
I like the interiors here. Yes they need to grow and be more consistent and by that I mean the cruise ship or the mudslide are incredibly well done but feel like someone different did them. Still I see the potential here so work on keeping the faces the same (Chloe looks ancient on page 5) and the most sequential work Luke will do the better he’ll get. I like the way the way we see the linework and how it’s varying weights are used in the attention to detail here. I feel like I see some Todd Nauck influence and yet it still feels like Luke’s revealing his own style at the same time. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a good eye for storytelling. I love that backgrounds are utilised as they are so let’s keep that going because they do flesh out the story, the moments and bring a nice size and scope.
I really like this book and the level and quality of storytelling going on. It has an interesting premise to start with and how Chloe feels that she needs to find others like herself gives us both some science and detective aspects to her character that make her more interesting. Whether she’s a born leader or not that’s something only time will tell. I like that this has so much unlimited potential. This is the kind of book I tell you about and seek folks this out at conventions in Artists Alley or head on over to their website and check it out!
http://inzanecomics.com/