Aftershock Comics 2018
Created & Written by Zack Kaplan
Illustrated by Alvaro Sarraseca
Coloured by Dee Cunniffe
Lettered by A Larger World’s Troy Peteri
Hel Coates, her brother and their teenage friends are running from mercenaries, hiding from monsters and exploring the dangerous world of NYC underground tunnels. But will they find the mysterious, supernatural doorway to the Lost City of Atlantis?
Okay so it’s only issue three but in all honesty I think I miss those Previously segments that comics used to have. It is a nice recap of what’s happened and for me it works as an opening paragraph heh but either way it is missed. So after the order is given from Sagan Labs that the kids are now expendable they barely escaped their last encounter with them and fled into the subway tunnels below the city. This is where we pick things up.
If you are like me then you usually give a new series the first arc or six issues of a new series a chance before making your decision on if its one you’ll continue with. This one doesn’t need that though it really needed until this issue to solidify how I felt about it. Hel has been leading her friends around the subterranean structure and lying to them along the way. I’m seriously liking how this is all playing out as the characterisation of each character seems to sharpen into view. That along with how this book is structured makes for some interesting reading to say the least.
There is a piece of me that really enjoys this whole cat and mouse chase the kids are having with the hit team. They know they are in trouble and they aren’t hardened killers or anything of the sort so when they believe that giving up and going home would be the end of it they have no idea just how wrong that thinking truly is. So that Hel will stop at nothing to find her father and her way into the lost city of Atlantis to find him might inadvertently be the very thing saving their lives at the moment is exciting to watch. The way that Zack manages to weave the story in, around and through the kids innocence and naivete has a certain charm to it that while leaving us in the know and them in the dark hasn’t quite reached that point of screaming at the pages yet.
Alvaro and Dee’s work on the interiors here is pretty dynamic stuff. I like how the utilisation of page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels not only shows off this great eye for storytelling but also the sheer size and scope of the tunnels that are left unused beneath the city. There really is almost an entire city available to roam around in these tunnels and that the kids are barely scratching the surface of it makes me want to see more. The attention to detail here is phenomenal and Dee’s colouring makes the dark and dank unused system feel ominous and more dangerous.
So while the pacing of the story seems to be going at a rather quick speed there is so still so much potential to be seen here. I mean the homeless living underground, the way to and from Atlantis and having to avoid the whole Sagan Labs team of hit-men are all still things that we still get to see unfold. This whole Urban Explorer is one thing but to find a mythical city lost to the annuls of time by traversing dimensions well that is something I'm not sure many of expected. Also the method of opening the portal well that’s as unique as it’s placement.
With some strong writing, interesting premise and a lot of promise still to come Zack manages to take us from Science Fiction to Action/Adventure Thriller expanding his repertoire. Thanks to that and these absolutely amazing interiors make this a very strong read that should make your list.