Titan Comics 2017
Written by Ryan O’Sullivan
Illustrated by Szymon Kudranski & Damien Worm
Additional Colours by Guy Major
Lettered by Simon Bowland
Coinciding with the release of the new game, get ready for the hotly anticipated comics sequel to Tango Gameworks’ blood-curdling survival horror series. Still shell-shocked by the horrific events that took place at the Beacon Mental Hospital, Detective Sebastian Castellanos finds himself investigating a gruesome murder in Krimson City that might be his key to understanding what happened in his terrifying encounter at Beacon.
Once upon a time the only place you could find adaptations like this was over at Dark Horse Comics. Nowadays when I see one coming from Titan Comics I’m more tempted than ever to get a gaming system so I can play these games. If this is “the sequel” to the first game and is what the second one is kind of going to be like then yeah I’m all in for giving it a go. Seriously I may not be your typical gamer but these adaptations that are being done flesh out the world’s and the concepts behind them so incredibly well.
Already i’m kind of in love with Detective Sebastian Castellanos and his whole demeanor and the way he sees everything. I mean how can you not thoroughly enjoy someone who is so brutally honest about what he’s experienced that his superiors are willing to hide him and cover up his truth no matter how far fetched science-fiction/horror it may sound to ones ears. Personally I”m so impressed with the fact that he’s not in padded room at this point and that he’s able to go do his job and remain as sane as we see him. Ryan does some absolutely stellar characteristion so that we really do get invested into these characters extremely quickly.
Szymon, Damien and Guy do some amazing work in the interiors. I have no idea what the game graphics look like but with today’s technology i’m sure they are amazing so to see the level of detail and delicacy of the linework and how it all comes together to evoke such strong feelings and emotions is perfectly done. The way page layouts are utilised through angles and perspective show off Szymon’s eye for storytelling as do his use of backgrounds here. The overall tone, mood and feel of what we see coming off the pages really envelopes the reader in this dark world of horror and terror.
I really am liking the way this book has been structured. As we navigate the introduction of this world through the opening and have our minds and experiences expanded into something far beyond what is expected. That we get a crash course on the events that were the first game and Sebastians role in all that as it also takes us into the meat of what this story is all about. It’s got past, present and future all rolled up into one extremely well done, words & visuals, opening.
As the story moves forward I’m sincerely hoping that we’ll get a better look at this Stem device and how it actually works. The idea behind it is fascinating and if it really is able to do what it’s proclaimed to then yeah I wanna know more about the technology and science behind it’s creation. I know that’s asking a lot and we generally tend to accept stories like this blindly but ever since Star Trek technology has caught up with us and in some ways surpassed itself well I’m more intrigued by the prospect of it’s reality more than ever!
There are some moments that let you know things have begun in earnest. There’s a tension in what we see Sebastian seeing and it’s got that great anticipation quality to it that tells you to expect something and when it comes we’re ready for it but unprepared for it’s reality. It’s one thing to be able to guide your audience but another altogether to be able to lead them to it and then continually surprise them at the same time.
I’m really hoping the shocking twist ending is what we are led to believe it is. While it does guarantee beyond a shadow of a doubt I’ll be back to see I was already coming back because of how well this whole thing was done to begin with.